[Vision2020] More on the ice rink

[Bruce and Jean Livingston]

Donovan,

Thank you for your kind words about Nancy.  I, too, think she is a kind, warm, generous, giving and thoughtful person.  And I agree she is going through a tough time right now.  Unlike you, I voted for her, and I worked very hard to elect her.  

If only I wasn't so mad at her right now for signing that cease and desist order...  She works her tail off.  She tries to do her homework, in a way that I don't think Peg ever would have done.  I think you hit the nail on the head about her being inexperienced; she is definitely getting some on-the-job training in a job she loves, and thankfully, for her sake, a job for which she doesn't have to stand for election until November 2009.

I think this ice rink matter was very poorly handled, and I disagree with those who think that the City should have "enforced the law" and sent that cease and desist letter the day after last Tuesday's Council meeting.  We had a pretty clear consensus on the Council that this was an unfortunate situation that was hurting the ice rink.  Really what was needed was someone to rope everyone together in one room, including the recalcitrant County Commissioners, and come to a solution for the common good.  Have that meeting, and if things don't work out, then enforce the law.

The lawyers at the City, Randy and Gary (who was City Attorney before he was supervisor), pushed this step.  I think they exercised appalling judgment, and I am sorry that Nancy paid so much attention to them.  Other than the fact that she listened to her lawyers, I don't understand how she agreed to send that letter, when it seemed so counter-intuitive to me and nearly everyone with whom I have discussed the issue.  All of us are taxpayers to both the City and the County, and paving a parking lot that is probably going to have to be torn up is, well, as Chris Storhok basically said, it's stupid, and it's going to end up costing us money.  Why didn't our lawyers advise the council to pass a moratorium on enforcement for a brief period, maybe while delivering an unsigned cease and desist order to let the County know what was coming, instead of egging the parties into a game of litigation chicken?  

I seem to recall the City staff -- that would be Gary and Randy, the men of principle that believed in enforcing the law at all costs against the skating rink and the County -- advised the City not to enforce the law and seek to close down someone else a while back.  Remember?  That would be when New St. Andrews was found to be in violation of the zoning code a year or two ago.  Why not exercise some similar judgment now?  Apparently, the reason is that with NSA, the City's butt was in a sling for letting them move in and invest a lot of money in refurbishing the Skattaboe Building when the code didn't allow a school there.  In my opinion, that was the right call then, NOT to boot NSA after such an incompetent gaffe in the first place, (by a different member of city staff who still doesn't recognize that he biffed it).  If that had been my investment and the City misled me into thinking it was ok to invest, well, I'd have been mad as a hornet too, if they'd tried to kick me out.  So reason prevailed then.

Where is the reasoned judgment now?

Since it's somebody else's butt that is in the sling now, the County Commissioners, well, our City's lawyers seem quite comfortable moving right ahead with enforcement, notwithstanding the offense to the skating community and the Moscow taxpayers who will have to deal with some silly stop-gap measure that wastes more of our money.  Why not advise Council to pass a short-term moratorium against enforcement and get the clear and focused attention of our County Commissioners, one of whom is brand new?

That wasted money from putting in a short-term, possibly torn-up-in-the-near-future, parking lot: couldn't it be put toward the much better use of building an enclosed skating rink, if not at the Fairgrounds, then next to the HIRC, or at the ball fields, or somewhere else in town?  An enclosed skating rink is a profitable enterprise.  It is Smart Growth, because it builds community.  It is economic development, that increases the quality of life substantially, while luring visitors to town, if only we would build it.

Let's take this opportunity to move forward and pull together for something positive out of this.  I am sorry that Nancy got some bad advice.  I do know she means well, and I wish Aaron weren't so brutal to her, but I have got to say that he wasn't the one who signed an imprudent cease and desist letter before exploring options just a little bit more.  I simply don't accept the City's lawyers' take that it was time to go to the mats.  I don't think the rest of the community does, either.  Maybe Bill Lambert really does think we should have sent that letter and maybe he really was offended at the idea of letting the Commissioners slide for even one more day, but frankly, Bill's a good man, too, and like Nancy, I think he was listening to the City's lawyers. 

At some point, I wonder why we don't consider getting another lawyer's opinion about what quasi-judicial really means.  Maybe then the lawyers would stop preventing our elected officials from talking to their constituents about things in the community that our elected officials ought to hear.  Not all lawyers share Randy's, and maybe (probably?) Gary's, very limited and, in my opinion, overly conservative view of quasi-judicial matters.  This last point on quasi-judicial, it's a bit of a digression, but it's been bugging me for a long time.  There is a continuum of possible interpretations on legal matters, many gray areas of differing degrees of debatability, between the black and white extremes where the answer is clear and not debatable.  It is not always the most prudent course to take the most risk-averse option in every instance, but that seems to be the current philosophy of lawyers at City Hall.  I think it is ill-advised with respect to the extraordinarily narrow view of quasi-judicial matters.  Likewise, to the extent that there was no risk because the County was in clear violation of the Special Use Permit, I don't think it was well advised to push that cease and desist button as soon as they did, when things could and should have been worked out in a more cooperative, we are one community, manner.

Good night and good luck, and sorry to get on my soapbox, but this has been a very frustrating week for me, along with so many other good members of all spectrums of our community.  I wish Nancy the best and hope that she learns from this one, and I hope the Council pulls together, and I wish John Dickinson hadn't disappeared, and I really don't think any of these folks are bad people, and I hope we move on to the best future we can make.

Bruce Livingston


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Donovan Arnold 
  To: Dan Carscallen ; vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 11:33 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] More on the ice rink


  So now Aaron Ament knows why Nancy Chaney was elected??? To bring Randy and Gary under control? 

  Nancy was elected because the People of Moscow elected her. I didn't vote for Nancy to be Mayor of Moscow. I voted for her for city council though, and she was an excellent council woman. But I don't think, and still don't think she was yet up to the task of being mayor with only two years of experience, and think she is proving me correct. 

  I voted for Peg because I know that she had the experience, and the understanding of the job. 

  Moscow has not done well under Nancy's time. She is a good person. She means well, and is very determined to be a good leader. However, I think I was correct to point out in 2005 that she was not yet ready. I am willing to bet that she would not be reelected at this point because of the major errors she has made. 

  However, nobody is perfect and being mayor is a hard job. I hope rather than bashing her like Aaron Ament does, we can help her out, because her failure to lead and make good decisions makes all of Moscow suffer. 

  I like Nancy, as a person, and think she is one of the kindest people I know, remember she is a nurse. But clearly she needs some help in this job she has taken on. I hope Aaron shuts his loud mouth, at least around the DN and LMT and tries helping instead. I don't know of one thing he has accomplished (besides ending the pledge) since being in office unless complaining about others is an accomplishment. 

  Best,

  Donovan





  Dan Carscallen <areaman at moscow.com> wrote:

    Excerpts from today's Daily News:

    "'This is a slap in the face to the City Council,' [Ament] said. 'It's
    against everything we'd discussed.' 


    Conflict between city staff and members of the City Council has existed
    in the past, Ament said, including last summer's request by the Moscow
    Police Department to unionize. 


    He said city administration officials like [City Attorney Randy] Fife
    and Moscow City Supervisor Gary Riedner 'need to go.' 


    'This is a strong mayoral system but I don't see the mayor leading. I
    see city staff in control,' he said. '(Mayor) Nancy Chaney was brought
    into office to bring them under control, but that hasn't happened. If
    Nancy (Chaney) doesn't want to step up to the plate, Nancy needs to
    leave too.'"

    Ament wanting to recall Chaney? Wow.

    Looks like someone other than the County Commissioners is "shocked" . .
    .

    DC


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