[Vision2020] Thirteen Reasons Why The Moscow Civic Association Is A Bad Idea -readable format

[Douglas Stambler]

Thirteen Reasons Why The Moscow Civic Association Is A Bad Idea

1) What Moscow really needs is a group of citizens who are willing to put aside political differences, and meet together on a regular basis to discuss how the local government can better serve the people of this area.  This informal organization should include liberals, conservatives, Christians, atheists, Jewish people, students, professors, business people, and just about any and every political and philosophical perspective. THE MOSCOW CIVIC ASSOCIATION EXCLUDES ABOUT  80% OF THE COMMUNITY HERE.
2) Bill London does not wish to include alternative viewpoints in his organization, and has structured the Moscow Civic Association in such a way so that anyone who disagrees on a fundamental level, is not invited to participate in a meaningful way.  Bill London wants people to spectate and praise the Moscow Civic Association.  If he were truly interested in having a “civic association,” then he would have invited other viewpoints to be on his “board of directors.”
3) Why does Moscow need a civic association, if there are still seats on the various commissions for the city that ARE STILL OPEN FOR THE TAKING?  All a person has to do is to contact Gary Riedner, and they can participate DIRECTLY instead of indirectly in municipal government.  Plus, as I have found out, the City Council really takes these commissions seriously, and tends to simply adopt the findings from those committees at City Council meetings.
4) The Moscow Civic Association is trying to reinvent the wheel: Why not start a local chapter of the Green Party?  The Green Party stands for everything that the Moscow Civic Association promotes, and it makes more sense to associate with a larger, well-connected political movement than to localize a variety of issues that Green Party members are concerned about, too.
5) The name, Moscow Civic Association, is misleading to people from other parts of the country, and even locally.  A more appropriate name for the organization would probably be something like, “The Bill London and Friends Political Organization.”  I don’t see how anyone of conscience can donate money to the Moscow Civic Association and NOT think that Bill London and his board of directors are simply trying to advance their own personal agendas, NOT MOSCOW’s.
6) It is convenient for Bill London to make personal attacks on others here on Vision 2020, because Bill London doesn’t understand very much of WHAT HE BELIEVES IN.  Instead of responding to the content of valid concerns here in Moscow, Bill London tends not to listen to others, and instead, treats others like they are there to help him get ahead in some way.  The Moscow Civic Association is too personal to really be taken seriously, I think.
7) The fact is, that the City Council of Moscow is the best form of government you (the people of Moscow) have here locally.  Why does Moscow need an independent, “representative” political body, which is what the Moscow Civic Association is setting out to do?  Why not work within the framework of local government?  Although I believe that ALL the City Council members in Moscow are incompetent at what they do, I DO HAVE TO SAY that the City Council in Moscow generally listens to others, and tries to do its best.  I have known Marshall Comstock to return phone calls; I have had a meaningful and cordial interaction with JoAnn Mack (a very nice person, I might add); I have had my doubts about salary raises for the City Council, and have been able to have those concerns actually listened to at City Hall.  The people who work for the city are generally honest, and extremely helpful when asked for information.  WHY NOT TRY AN ALREADY ESTABLISHED WAY TO BRING POLITICAL CHANGE TO MO!
 SCO
W?  I think that Bill London is too lazy and afraid to be respectable in Moscow, so he has organized one monster of an anomaly here, and he simply expects that he should be respected just because he invited all his friends to his “party.”  Bill, IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY IN AMERICA.  You might want to try a socialist country, where EVERYONE’s opinion DOESN’T MATTER.  Because that’s exactly how you have your organization set up: The INDIVIDUAL’s perspective does not matter to the Moscow Civic Association, so how can the Moscow Civic Association be said to be speaking on the people’s behalf?  It cannot.
8) There are obvious, basic problems with the way the municipal government is being run at the moment, and here is what I have observed.  (If Bill London is TRULY interested in helping the people of Moscow to improve their community, then he will meet with me in person, and we can both tackle the following issues together, WITHOUT an organization.) a) The City Engineer is incompetent, and should be fired – he has dragged his feet on local transportation issues, and NEVER publicizes what his office does, because he doesn’t really want anyone to know what kinds of outrageous plans he has entertained for Moscow’s future; b) The recycling facility should be closed down – NEW YORK CITY HAS ALREADY TERMINATED ITS RECYCLING PROGRAM – IT HAS BEEN PROVEN NOT TO WORK – Why, then, would it work in Moscow? – IT IS COSTING AN OUTRAGEOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY TO MAINTAIN, and it is only cosmetic; c) The Moscow Police Department is overstaffed, and the City Council has admitted this.  Get rid of!
  th
e extra staff, instead of swarming the streets here with police cars: It’s an absolute infringement on the basic civil rights of the people in Moscow, that’s what I say. – Plus, $51,000 has been spent on a new dispatch machine for the MPD. – This is your money, folks.  With the sheriff’s office here in Moscow and the Idaho State Police here, too, you would think that the MPD could work out a more cost-effective solution to their dispatch machine problem than spending $51,000 on a big city machine.  Why not spend that money on the people of Moscow instead?  Is the crime rate here THAT high?  You know it isn’t.  Someone made a wrong choice at the MPD and at the City Council, that’s for sure; d) Finally, many people have expressed their concerns about commissioner Paul Kimmel’s conflict of interest with the Chamber of Commerce.  – It is obvious to area business entrepreneurs and the University of Idaho Incubator that the Chamber of Commerce is not living up to what it says it i!
 s: 
The Chamber is a social club, with membership dues, and that’s about it, unfortunately.  Paul Kimmel needs to get in line with what the people here expect of their Chamber, and, I think he’s not a good commissioner, because he takes a more rural approach to a county that is obviously headed towards a more urban focus.  He should step down from his elected office, immediately, and focus on the Chamber, instead.  Moscow NEEDS Paul Kimmel to step down and focus on the Chamber, because he is a super-smart person, who has unfortunately misplaced his ambitions at the moment.  He would really help Moscow financially if he would keep his country-ideas out of Latah County government.
9) Tom Scallorn at the Water Department is a trustworthy servant of local government, and should have been consulted by Bill London, BEFORE organizing the Moscow Civic Association, because Tom Scallorn is worthy of being on a local board of directors for ANY organization.  Instead, Bill London helped select people for the Moscow Civic Association’s board of directors who are not in tune with how government works, but rather, in tune with HIM.  Bill London is the financial backing of the Moscow Civic Association, and ultimately, he calls the shots for the Moscow Civic Association.
10) The Latah County Historical Society is having its annual function this month.  Is anyone thinking about what the Latah County Historical Society is really about?  It is about white-washing the history of this area, just like a lot of historical societies in the Southeastern United States that don’t want people to know about their cities’ involvement in slavery.  The fact is, Latah County belongs to the Nez Perce tribe, because CHIEF JOSEPH never signed the treaty with the federal government.  Imagine someone from Moscow signing laws, but they weren’t authorized to do so?  Well, that’s what happened to the Nez Perce in Latah County.  Anyhow, is the Moscow Civic Association organizing to help tell the truth about Latah County’s history, or is it just supporting the status quo?  If so, then why do we NEED ANOTHER ORGANIZATION that supports the status quo?  What I’m saying is that the Moscow Civic Association does not say anything new, and it is a redundant organization that!
  sh
ould be shut down, because it’s wasting people’s time here.
11) The 1912 building has obvious problems as a community center.  These problems include limited access, and quite frankly, it is totally locked up in the evenings except for that floor space in the downstairs area.  The New St. Andrews College building downtown on Main Street is a FAR MORE APPROPRIATE community center space, and I hope that the staff and students of that esteemed institution do more than their part to share the former GTE building with Moscow residents.  If the Moscow Civic Association is representative, it will ask New St. Andrews College if they could meet at the former GTE building, where anyone can casually stop by and participate.
12) The Eagles Club needs donations and assistance to rebuild its structure after the horrible fire that happened there.  IS ANYONE HELPING THEM?  You would think that if the Moscow Civic Association were all about helping others and representing others in Moscow, that someone would call the Eagles and help them get that space set up for community functions.
13) Finally, there is an organization in town that hardly anyone really talks about when it comes to civic affairs, because people consider them racist: I’m talking about the Moose Club.  The Moose Club is ultra-conservative, and that might not sit well with some people in Moscow, but the fact is that these people who belong to the Moose Club are generous and reasonably well-informed about local politics.  I think that any “Moscow Civic Association” would have to have a board member that includes a member of the Moose Club.


Always in Christ, 
and never intending to inflame others, 
but rather to write about the truth as I see it,

Douglas Stambler
Moscow, Idaho


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