June 28, 2007 Council MeetingS

[Brent]

1. According to the council calendar, a "special meeting" of the town council will occur at 5:30 on Thursday, before the regular meeting. No purpose/agenda is posted. What's this about?

2. More development design micromanagement on the consent agenda for the regular meeting:

Garagescapes and Anti-Monotony Standards (PL07-044)
Committee unanimously recommended that Council direct staff to draft ordinance language regarding anti-monotony and snout-nose garage regulations for inclusion in the next round of LDO amendments.

http://www.townofcary.org/pd/pl07-044.htm

3. And of course the already-much-discussed "it is our pleasure to request" public funds to raise private funds from CCF (i.e., Jennifer asking Jennifer to give Jennifer some of our tax dollars): http://www.townofcary.org/pd/pr07-32.htm

4. And don't forget, the adoption of the FY 2008 budget (the one with higher debt, the one that assumes higher growth rate, and the one that doesn't include a dime for Cary Area EMS): http://www.townofcary.org/depts/budget/fy2008/budgetfy08summary.htm

Should be a fun meeting (or meetingS).

[Don]

1. According to the council calendar, a "special meeting" of the town council will occur at 5:30 on Thursday, before the regular meeting. No purpose/agenda is posted. What's this about?


Think it has anything to do with the recent closed session regarding the competancy of a certain town employee?

[DarylB]

....(i.e., Jennifer asking Jennifer to give Jennifer some of our tax dollars)

AKA "Friends of Perky"......

[dhyatt]

It's annual review time for the positions that report directly to council. Nothing at all mysterious. It would have been taken care of during the closed session at the end of the last council meeting if all councilors had been prepared to discuss it - some of them weren't, so a follow up closed session had to be scheduled. I suspect someone(s) is getting a kick out of feeling like they've tweaked us over nothing...

[Brent]

I suspect someone(s) is getting a kick out of feeling like they've tweaked us over nothing...

If so, what a mature thing for public servants to be doing!

So why wasn't the purpose or agenda for this special meeting published?

[dhyatt]

I suspect someone(s) is getting a kick out of feeling like they've tweaked us over nothing...

If so, what a mature thing for public servants to be doing!

So why wasn't the purpose or agenda for this special meeting published?

Don't know other than because it's a personnel related issue???

[Brent]

Sue Rowland indicated that there was some public notice, but I couldn't find it.

She did, in fact, say that the public notice (which I couldn't find) states that the meeting will immediately go into closed session to discuss the performance and competence of certain town employees, which is consistent with what's in this thread.

I just don't know why this text wasn't added to or referenced from the calendar entry for the special meeting, where it would be easy to find.

[DarylB]

I suspect someone(s) is getting a kick out of feeling like they've tweaked us over nothing...

If so, what a mature thing for public servants to be doing!

So why wasn't the purpose or agenda for this special meeting published?

An open and forthright government would get some respect, but this group has gone out of their way to ensure just the opposite. They are clearly not our "representatives", but quite clearly consider themselves to be our masters.

Such things as public information are typically an embarrassment to them, and the members of the public who do seek information are often stiff-armed in any attempt to obtain it. The priorities that have existed in the public's mind for years (from numerous surveys) as problems to be solved, are largely those that have been created by government (via advertising for yet more growth), and continue not only unabated, but are enhanced in level of difficulty by this same elitist body. Growth and congestion, which have been on everyone's radar, are the stuff that has made this government an "us vs. them", adversarial relationship. It's the mayor scolding the public at council meetings; it's the signing off of yet another eminent domain acquisition of another property owners land; it's the developer getting a third chance to get a council rezoning decision, while those citizens whom it will hurt are silenced; it is the process of selecting a replacement councilor without public input; it is the squandering of tax revenues on silly projects, and the "West Virginia family tree" mentality of serving more than one master with obvious conflicts of interest in such endeavors as CCF funding.

Corruption has become a sport at town hall, where public money has become the trophy, and each new tax increase brings these "public servants" to a more frenzied level of ecstasy. Their victory dance, which they enjoy so much, is at the expense of those for whom the government should be serving. Here, there's not a chance that serving the true public needs the government was "invented" to serve will ever happen.

[Wuptdo]

Perhaps the Mayor, Council, and senior staff (Throw the School Board & WCPSS as well) can learn something from what our State Department sends out to foreign governments:

Tansparency in Government (http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/transgov/begin.htm)

Quote from above:

The heart of American democracy — and of any democracy — is meaningful, active participation by its people in government decisions that touch their lives.
The soul of such a system is the ability of ordinary citizens to hold government officials accountable for their actions. Known as “transparency,” this essential democratic process takes many forms, but all allow concerned citizens to see openly into the activities of their government, rather than permitting these processes to be cloaked in secrecy.

Sorry, I keep forgetting that North Carolina is a Banana Republic, first and foremost. :roll: :roll:

Wuptdo B-)

[DarylB]

Perhaps the Mayor, Council, and senior staff (Throw the School Board & WCPSS as well) can learn something from what our State Department sends out to foreign governments:

Tansparency in Government (http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/transgov/begin.htm)

Quote from above:

The heart of American democracy — and of any democracy — is meaningful, active participation by its people in government decisions that touch their lives.
The soul of such a system is the ability of ordinary citizens to hold government officials accountable for their actions. Known as “transparency,” this essential democratic process takes many forms, but all allow concerned citizens to see openly into the activities of their government, rather than permitting these processes to be cloaked in secrecy.

Sorry, I keep forgetting that North Carolina is a Banana Republic, first and foremost. :roll: :roll:

Wuptdo B-)

If I were a banana (or even a banana republic) right now, I'd feel insulted! Being compared to Cary and/or NC government disrespects bananas (and banana republics), who deserve more respect than to be compared to this mess. However, I do have access to a GigaPooper that might serve as a better basis for comparison. :pottytrain5: