My conclussion of what happened in our recent election, is what I beleive those whom were unseated forgot to remember, being;
That we are still a republic form of government.
In which the people or some portion thereof retain supreme control over the government, and in which the government is not a monarch or a dictatorship.
Now the last blog came about with my anger over our sitting council knowingly violating the laws.
In killing that blog, it is my hope that this new blog, gives the new council a chance without the negativity of the previous council.
To the sitting Council for the City of Cascade Locks, Oregon.
You have been elected by the people to manage the affairs of our city.
It is up to each of you to put aside your personal beleifs and govern on the statutory authority granted to you by law.
That all legislation you pass must be in the best interest of the city.
That all legislation you pass must be in compliance with the law.
Many parts of our legislation on the books at this time are in violation of the law.
When you take your oath of office it will be your duty to not only legislate on what comes before you but to address and correct mistakes made by previous council's.
I myself demand accountability to all those elected or otherwise in our city government and services.
To the visitors to this blog.
Let us use this blog to put aside the past and work towards a positive future.
We can't change the past but we can shape our future.
Who better than the people to pave the path for that future.
This blog is a media and an outlet we can use to give input, for our elected officials to hear from the public at large.
So to begin with I ask visitors to answer these 4 questions.
1. Why do you beleive there was such a change in our city government at this last election?
2. What do you expect of your city governemt and officials?
3. What legislation do we have that you doubt is legal or just morally wrong?
4. What legislative actions would you like this council to adress?
13 comments:
cody cmon.
you knew how this election was going to turn out.
with all of your family and friends along with these web sites reaching out to the others is it any wonder it did not go any other way.
i was around and knew it was going to go the way it did.
with the other web site I always wondered how many hits you were getting.
with this blog just being posted today and having a counter showing over 20 hits in such a short time this concerns me.
what i see concerns me as i am afraid that even though i am pleased with the outcome of this election i am afraid that one day my opinion or vote wil not matter as you and yours will have it all figured out amongst yourselves friend or not.
my biggest question is are you using these web sites as power to acheive something.
maybe our next mayor.
now cody i know you.
but when dealing with those not as well off in what they do not understand be careful.
Remember that not everyone has the background you have.
just be careful here cody as you always say power corrupts and i do not want to see this power corrupt you.
an old friend.
I think your on the right path Cody.
New Council, New Mayor, New blog.
Let's give these guys a chance to represent us. There will be plenty of time to pick apart what they do or don't do once something has actually happened.
Something I would like to see happen in the next three months.
I would like to see city hall spruced up a bit, nothing expensive, just the weeds growing thru the fences and the small amount of trash that blown around and collected in corners picked up. If we start taking an interest in how our city looks and accept responsibility for making it better, we might have something we can be proud of eventually. A small step, but a step forward none the less.
1) I feel that the change occurred because some elected officials decided that they knew what was right for the town and forgot who they were representing.
2) To listen to the citizens and decide what is best for town, not what is best for their families, their businesses or for their friends. I would like to see some compromises and concessions made when making decisions.
3) Most of the recent decisions made by this lame duck Council are either.
4) Really have a thorough review of the budget and the Charter with the idea of making both better, stronger and more easily understood before voting on them.
Also, Cody can you stop the anonymous posters? I'm not saying make them put their real name down, although it would be more honest, if less entertaining. Yet, perhaps they should create an avatar. It is just too confusing when we start trying to answer one another. (I'll start)
Thank you for providing this forum.
Anonymous/An Old Friend
If you are implying voter fraud let me state up front that I have no idea how my family and friends voted.
There was no conspiracy here in any way.
I would not run for mayor unless I was a council person first.
If you were an old friend you would know how I feel about that.
All these family and friends you mention, got me where 3 years ago when I ran for council?
If it is page hits you worry about I got 989 last month and 2,169 all time history from the blog and the Google video channel got 2,137 hits last month and 8,391 all time history.
Now it appears you do know me somehow as that is a power statement I have made.
Yet an ald friend would know my background well enough not to worry about me being able to handle power.
If you are an old friend and have a concern call and we can figure out where this is coming from.
Cody
Anonymous
I am glad you agree and I agree that we need to give them a chance.
I also agree with you about City Hall as that is the face of our City.
One step at a time is a good motto.
Cody
Wren
1-I agree
2-I agree as well as insure that every piece of legislation has legislative authority and does not conflict with the law and our charter.
3-I agree and would also like all legislation passed be reveiwed by this new council to see if it is legal.
4-Very good points. As a matter of fact if those 2 issues were addressed and rules made to follow the laws concerning the budget and use of funds and specifically stating the powers of the city in the charter most of the problems we face today would not be a problem any longer.
I wish I could take the anonymous factor out of this but some citizens are afraid of the city and others are the city not wanting to say they are the city. Others just don't as they just debase people and do not want to say who is doing it.
When I started the first blog i wanted a place were we could all come clean and be adults and tackle the problems of our city and I realized that there are so many hard feelings on both sides that this may not be possible.
That said Wren your comment is the goal I have for this.
Talking about the issues and I thank you.
Cody
I would like to see some of the young (18-25 age group) people in town get involved in their government, I think it would help bring some energy and a new perspective to city hall. It would also benefit the young adults that get involved (it never looks bad on a resume), and give us experienced leaders for the future.
This won't happen on it's own or by simply posting something on channel 23. It will require a conscious effort to get this group involved and show them that there is nothing special about those who get elected.
Thank you Cody for your new blog.
This is my short list on what I would like to see our new City Council accomplish:
1. Restore the power delegated to the city administrator and give it back to the city council where it belongs.
2. Replace our Lake Oswego attorneys with an attorney that works for the city council not the city administrator.
3. An independent audit of the utilities and general fund. Deal expeditiously with any abuses.
4. An independent audit of the fire department, construction of the fire hall, and its financing.
5. Set strong perimeters for the city administrator which includes office hours. Deal swiftly and strongly with episodes of exceeding legally delegated authority.
6. Put new requirements regarding the budget process, which include scrutinizing proposed line items. Actual current expenditures should be scrutinized to look for opportunities to determine and correct spending abuses.
7. Do away with the ordinance enforcement position! Administrative assistant position?
8. Amend charter to address the electric company.
Want to hear the long list?
P.S.
9. Get rid of our expensive, arrogant, manipulative planner and hire someone this community can trust.
New Blood?
I agree that we need some young voices in our city government.
But the 18 to 25 age group has the chance today to rise to the occassion if they so choose.
Nothing is stopping them now from running for office or getting involved if they would only do it.
After thiking about what you said though I realize that there may be a great opportunity here to get our younger children involved in government.
Maybe if we could start younger than that. Maybe the 16 to 18 age group before they hit that magic 18 year old mark and begin the fight for their independance and the foundation building journey of their own lives. Then maybe some of our children would choose a political science or political career.
I think it would be great to present our juniors or seniors with an opportunity to have a say in our government.
I think it would be great to have them go over the issues and have a say in the matter just from their prespective.
Maybe they could form a club.
Maybe this could fill some of the idle time I know they have living here.
You are on to something here and i would like to hear more.
This is something you should run with as it is your idea and a great one but if I can help in any way let me know.
I would like to see this go somewhere.
Cody
Observant Insider.
You are welcome for the blog and I thank you for your reply as this is what it is all about.
Thank you!!!
Although you say this is a short list every point you make is very relevant and although I would like to know all your points this is a very good starting point.
I am very interested in your points and want to hear more.
Who knows maybe we will end up with a much needed new charter and not just one initiative petition, after another.
So now lets break these points down and specify them as citizens.
1-I feel the only way to do that is in the charter. As it is now our very government does not know what powers the City Administrator holds.
The reason for that is because that positions powers were not specified in our City Charter. Therefore every new council gives powers to that position to fit that councils needs.
I feel it is time for the people to specify those powers and make it our law in the charter.
So what should those powers be?
2-I understand where you are coming from!!! Yet I do not want an attorney for the council either.
I want an attorney for the City. I want an attorney who will tell the administrator as well as the council if something which is in violation of the law that they cannot do it. Not this searching for loopholes going on today.
I do not care where they come from as long as they are protecting the City and the City only.
3-Oh yes, as we the citizen owners of these utilities are being ripped off by those we elect to manage and protect them from the abuses going on today. Our City is knowingly and intentionally violating the law concerning the use of our utility funds and we the consumer owners are paying for it in our very rates!!!!
4-I would like to see that as well yet our own auditor cannot figure out what is going on city wide as the proper records are not kept.
5-This leads us back to your #1 point. So what should those perimeters be and what legally delegated authority does that position have?
6-Oh the budget process!!! This is a big one!!!
I have many ideas on this which could fill this reply and be a separate blog issue. Maybe not a bad idea.
But I would like to hear some other ideas as well.
7-The O.E.O officer. If you look back to its creation in our ordinances it was created as a duty for the City Administrator. That was the reason we hired a City Administrator to begin with. It was our previous City Administrator whom created this problem and a council which did not read their own laws before hiring a separate officer to do his job.
Yes do away with this position and put that responsibility back where it belongs. With the City Administrator!!!
8-Oh yes along with rules and criminally charge those whom violated the laws concerning the use of funds and sue them personally for the return of those misused funds as far back as we can legally for over 25 years of that theft.
9-He is an officer of the City is he not?
After all he has all the powers of that office and for example had the power to threaten a business owner recently with a stop order for work as well as threatened to have him arrested didn't he?
So where in our charter is the authorization from the people which created that position?
It is clear that you are an observant insider.
Not only are you aware you know what needs to happen.
For sharing this I thank you.
Cody
cody- good idea for new blog. only comment is the thick red and black type is hard to read for this old guy.
I will leave the red out from now on.
Cody
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