City Council At It Again...

What bothers me most about this council led by Mayor Dee Margo is how small and petty they can be.

There is an item on the agenda that really pisses me off - and they have had this stupid item before. It is an item that will require multiple members of council to sign of on an agenda item.

There is no need for that.

It does not solve a problem.

Any elected member of council should be allowed to put an item on the agenda. They do not, and should not ever, need the permission of other members of council.

If I was elected by my district and I want to put an agenda item making an ordinance to require my neighbors to stop parking in my spot, or to make the color of the city salmon and purple, then that is my right.

Not only is this a rule that doesn't solve a problem, it is meant to stifle the debate or input of those of in the minority.

Government is not made better by doing that.

This is unnecessary and mean-spirited.

But it could also be an even bigger problem. This could lead to walking quorums very easily. If a city rep needs two other city reps to sign off on their item, then that means they have to talk to two other city reps about the issue. Well what happens if one of the first two city reps says they don't want to sign off on your item.

Then guess what? You either don't get to ask anyone else or you break the law and have a walking quorum by talking to a third member of council, which would be a total of 4 city reps knowing about an issue. The more no's the more you have to break the law.

It is BEYOND a stupid policy.

This council needs to understand that THEY hold the power over the mayor, instead of them kowtowing to the mayor every chance they get. Council is supposed to be the check on the mayor's power.

As I overheard the council meeting today, it sounds like the agenda items in the work sessions will be prioritized by the city manager.

What in the actual fuck?

The city manager is supposed to answer to council, not the city clerk or city manager. That is NOT how a strong council form of government is supposed to work.

There are a lot of council members that I don't agree with that are currently in the minority. I think most of them are stupid. But guess what? I don't live in their district. I don't get to have a say. If their constituents elected them to represent them, then they get to represent their constituents any way they see fit.

If their constituents think they are putting a frivolous item on the agenda, then their constituents can fire them. There is already a way to solve the issue of people putting an agenda item that is frivolous.

It also further disenfranchises entire parts of town. If I represent District A and there is an issue affecting my district - it is my FUCKING JOB to put an item on the agenda to either take action or get a presentation about an issue. It shouldn't have to get the approval of District B and District C and then have it prioritized by the pinche City Manager!

This is exactly how entire parts of town get disenfranchised.

This stupid crap comes up once every couple of years and it serves no purpose. Call your city rep to oppose this crap. Because I guarantee that if you're in the minority, which could happen at any election cycle, you would hate that.