Pueblog USa

What follows are my comments, i.e., some fisking, of said same….

Something happens to a lot of candidates for public office after they’re elected: They develop amnesia.—Some Guy

That seems to be VERY accurate in all too many instances. And considering that this pattern of behavior is so wide-spread, so much the ‘norm’, one has to wonder just what is going on to cause it. It’s almost a dilbertism and I’m reminded of the one where Dilbert is assigned to the Marketing Department and is told to put his soul in the closet while he’s there.

The implication being that in politics, the elected officials are required to surrender their soul to some dark being who will retain control of it until they leave office….and likely even beyond.

They forget all of those inspiring speeches in which they promised voters that, if elected, they would speak out on behalf of the people, fight for this or that, and refuse to go along to get along.—Some Guy

I believe I’ve seen reports of people who DID refuse to ‘go along to get along’. They spoke out, adamantly, against certain, if not many, issues causing debate in the open meetings. Now, based on what I’ve seen, most of them are considered cranks, curmudgeons, at the least. And seldom are they heard. Instead they are tuned out by the public and by their successors.

But after observing local politics - city councils, county commissions, school boards, etc. - for 35 years, I’ve concluded that too many newly elected officials rapidly lose their memory and/or their voices once they’re sitting in front of an audience at public meetings.—Some Guy

That could be due to a number of different factors:

• Unfamiliar with what they can do once they are in ‘office’.
• Timidity upon being elected the junior member of the panel.
• Being over-awed by senior members of the panel.
• Being told erroneous information by staff.

Then there’s the possibility that someone ‘got to them’. I’ve seen that happen around this community often enough.

Perhaps they’re doing their “champion of the people” routine behind closed doors in executive sessions.—Some Guy

It’s a possibility. But I have my doubts. If they’re intimidated by their contemporaries in the public venue, Lord alone knows how they’ll be intimidated behind closed doors. Or by whom.

Hard to say, because too many times, the boards, councils, etc., often don’t debate in public. They do it in private [executive session], then vote in public.—Some Guy

I’ve been on two commissions for several years now; Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

To the best of my recollection, these bodies have gone into executive session only twice in my tenure. And on both occasions the discussion has been on legal ramifications relating to the matter being heard. By legal, I mean things akin to legal counsel advising the panel members what could happen in terms of a legal action if the panel ignores certain aspects of the matter being heard. For example, it would be illegal to require this, that and/or the other, in this matter and here’s the ordinance that says so. The legal counsel that supports both of the panels I sit upon has done an excellent job…as far as I’ve observed to date. And in so doing, has saved these government entities, let alone, the City Council, considerable embarrassment….not to forget court costs.

This is particularly true when controversial matters are at stake. But sometimes, there are other reasons. Maybe the official has a conflict of interest that he doesn’t want to divulge in public.—Some Guy

As I understand it, any and all conflicts of interest are to be stated publicly. Not in executive session. If they are doing so in executive session, it is, in my understanding, a violation of the laws of the State of Colorado.

Maybe he has a bias that, really, he can’t defend except to say that he feels like he feels, yet still realizes he’d appear as a knucklehead if he shared that bias in public.—Some Guy

That’s a possibility, but I’ve seen elected officials behave that way anyway in the public venue. And again, if they are doing such as you suggest, they’re in violation of the laws of the State of Colorado, as I understand them.

Too bad. If you don’t want your opinions dissected by the public, if you don’t want your secrets to come out, if you don’t want to disagree with your fellow board members in public, then don’t run for office. Politics isn’t for everyone.—Some Guy

Like I told one over-wrought elected official in a work session of one of the panels I sit on, “You knew the job was dangerous when you took it.” They were nonplussed by this statement. But it IS the truth of the matter.

Democracy in action has, in many ways, become democracy in secret. Once rare, closed-door meetings - and let’s call them that rather than let officials off the hook by calling them by the less offensive executive sessions - are common in government today.—Some Guy

I’ve noticed that this city has a penchant for doing things in an ‘odd’ manner. This business about use of the ‘executive session’ to discuss matters that could very well be better addressed in the public venue is just one of them.

Another is the rule in the City Charter for all contracts competitively bid upon. Except for those that are ‘professional’ or ‘technical’ in nature. And oddly enough, it appears that the vast majority of all contracts and/or their dollars are for ‘professional’ or ‘technical’ matters. Therefore, there is little in the way of competitive bidding going on, as I’ve come to understand. I could be wrong on this, but so far I’ve not seen any evidence to convince me of that.

There are legal remedies in Colorado. A newspaper can petition the local court, asking a judge to listen to tape recordings of closed-door meetings to determine if the panel talked about things outside of the legal exemptions (personnel decisions, property negotiations, e.g.).—Some Guy

Actually, ANYONE can petition the court for the tapes of what goes on in these executive sessions. Not only THAT but anyone can petition the court to require a government entity or official to obey their own laws, ordinances and policies.

That includes requiring the city to enforce it’s own codes, e.g., Code Enforcement violations. Case in point, we have a lot of loud vehicles in this city. Isn’t it odd that the city has done little, if anything, to enforce the noise pollution ordinance?

A couple of years ago, there was a rally in the park down the street from me. It was about a quarter mile away; maybe more. But I could hear the woman on the bullhorn as plainly as if she were standing outside my front door. I called the police department to file a complaint. I was told that the city has no device with which to gage the noise level of anything.

Funny. Isn’t it. We can afford to throw several millions at one ‘crown jewel’, bread and circuses project after another. But we can’t afford a few hundred dollars to buy some noise pollution detection devices.

The question becomes just WHAT does the city care about? And who is making these decisions. Three guesses on each. First two don’t count.

But think for a moment how daunting that is for a citizen, or a small-town weekly newspaper, to go those lengths. Often, it’s too much trouble and too expensive. So nothing happens.—Some Guy

Actually. It’s worse than that. Due to the structure of the legal system in this city, no local attorney is willing to tackle the issue. Too many sub-contracts to do legal business for the city might dry up if they took the city to task.

Maybe we ought to do something about that.

The sad truth is, too many citizens run for office and plan to make a difference, but lack the courage to stand up to their peers once elected. They forget who elected them, who they are there to represent. Voters listened to their slogans, liked the smiling faces on yard signs and in newspaper ads, and took a chance and voted for them. But the candidates fail to keep their end of the deal.—Some Guy

The sad truth is that and then some. Now and then an honest person runs for political office and is elected. But it’s more than just getting into the chair, it’s also a matter of going against the ‘established order’. This is particularly difficult if the established order has a majority of seats on the panel. One vote is not enough to turn the tide against six others.

There has to be more. More than just changing the people sitting on the panel, whatever it may be. There has to be something that you touched on above. There has to be a will on the part of the citizens to take the government body to task when they are in violation of the law, ordinances or policies.

Part of that is having good legal counsel. But that is not likely to happen the way the city’s legal activities are organized. As no local attorney I’m familiar with, is willing to slit their own wrist. And it’s not just me who has encountered this problem of finding local legal advice to challenge the city.

That’s when we do what we do. We watch how government operates. If something smells fishy, it probably is, and it’s our job to report it.—Some Guy

Keep up the good work. We’re all excited.

It’s not easy to confront public officials, but it’s our calling. We cannot tackle this task with reluctance, but instead embrace it with fierce determination.—Some Guy

Everyone should consider it their ‘calling’. After all, it’s THEIR community. They live here. They suffer when the government does not run properly or spends THEIR money based on poor analysis of the situation.

We ALL need to be prepared to confront our public officials, elected or otherwise. But we need to do it in a cogent and rational manner. Not with daggers in our eyes and bile in our mouth.

And if those officials do not answer our questions in a satisfactory, or at least an open and honest manner….

....we need to expose their recalcitrant manner to the entire community. And we CAN do that. Even the common citizen who has access to a computer and the internet; both of which can be had at the Public Library, if not at their home.

They can make a comment on an article in the Pueblo Chieftain. Or they can comment on Pueblog.US. If they’re good at it, they can even become a contributing author on the latter. All they need to do, initially, is ask.

This ‘Guy’ liked to cite a lot of quotations from people in his particular profession.

After reading and writing, I’d like to cite one that has been near and dear to my heart regarding politics…..

After our friends come into power, they are no longer our friends.

Think about it…..

....and ponder the ‘why’.....