[Vision2020] puppets?

[Tom Ivie]

In response to ANY council member being a puppet, regardless of MCA, GMA, or any other affiliation:  This Council is full of INDIVIDUALS.  Individuals that vote the way that they do for their own reasons.  Two people can vote on something the same way but for completely different reasons.  I don't believe Ament was endorsed by MCA.  To call him a puppet is ridiculous.  Ament marches to his own tune.  Believe me when I say that NO One tells him what to think.  I know Stout personally and would hardly call him a puppet.  The same, I believe, could be said for Weber and Pall.  I honestly believe they vote the way they want to. There isn't someone "pulling their strings" and telling them how to vote.  To that end, Mayor Chaney has had to break several tie votes.  I don't think she has shown any bias to either progressive or non-progressive side.  She has backed both sides on votes. 
   
  Since when do our leaders HAVE to have the "right" experience?  Who makes that call?  the voters do.  How many Presidents have been elected that had no prior "experience?"  What constitutes experience?  Being a Governor of a state? (I include recent history with Clinton & Bush2)?  Experience in the U.S. Senate or House (Ford)?  What about having been a Vice President (Bush1)?  There is no formula for previous experience.  The success of any leader is their advisors which includes legal counsel.  Bad advice equals bad decisions.  A leader is not/does not have to be an expert in any or all areas.  They rely on their advisors to give well reasoned, objective, and precise advice.  This holds true at every level of government including the city.     
   
  I have heard the term "progressive" often used in a negative light. Progressives are generally about social change.  Without "progressives" we would not have worker's rights, anti-trust laws, regulation of monopolies, the creation of National Parks and wildlife refuges. Progressives were the first advocates of government-funded environmentalism. It was "progressives" that instituted the initiative process, referendums, secret ballots, direct election of U.S. Senators (17th Amendment; prior to 1913 they were elected through the state legislators), ballot initiatives, and women's suffrage.  Among "progressive" Presidents are Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  

 
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