[Vision2020] City Council and the Pledge

[Phil Nisbet]

Chas,

You asked;

>So, if I am to understand this correctly... you feel that whether city
>council members choose to say the the pledge or not is your business?
>If this is so, then I'm assuming it is because that you feel in some
>way it is within your power to grant or deny them permission.  Just
>because you elected them doesn't mean you get to choose their personal
>beliefs.
>

No, we do not have the right to decide on the personal preferences of 
Council Members, but we do have the right to have a government take actions 
that the people wish them to.  So if the people of the City of Moscow want 
their public meetings opened with a chorus of "Give me that old time rock 
and roll", council members do not get an instant right to decide differently 
and still expect to be re-elected to office.

Key here is the members reasons for actions, something that as elected 
officials they really do have to make clear to the people who are the real 
basis of government.  If the majority think their reasons are good, then 
they end up retained, if not we end up with a new batch.

And if the calls they make are totally out of sync with the wishes of the 
citizens, then a recall election can indeed be called.  I think that if they 
voted to start meetings with a chorus of the Horst Wessel Lied, I would be 
highly inclined to see the council recalled, just as a single good example.  
I woud hope that you would join in such a recall if Nazi Marching songs 
become the order of the day to start council sessions.

Phil Nisbet

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