[Vision2020] Incumbent City Council Members Stacking theElection

Tue Sep 25 05:35:16 PDT 2007

Arnold stated:

"The majority of council members informed her they have reached a consensus
that they would make not approve any appointment until after the last day to
file as a candidate and be placed on the ballot . . . A vote was not taken,
that was the problem. The City Council should have appointed a person to
fill the vacancy ASAP" 

Question #1, Arnold:  How could a majority or consensus (your words) have
been reached without a vote among the city council members?  

Question #2, Arnold:  Just where is it written that the mayor (or city
council) is required to fill a vacancy immediately?

If I remember correctly (from an audio recording of a city council session I
have on file), the council land staff discussed whether or not the mayor is
required to appoint a replacement, whether or not a special election should
be conducted, or whether or not the mayor may retain an empty seat on the
council until the next scheduled election.

What has transpired concerning both vacancies is well within city policy
(pronounced "code") and staff guidelines.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007) 

  _____  

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Donovan Arnold
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 9:46 PM
To: Mark Solomon; vision2020 at moscow.com; kcraine at verizon.net
Cc: aaronament at moscow.com; nchaney at ci.moscow.id.us; jweber at moscow.com;
tlamar at moscow.com; blambert at ci.moscow.id.us
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Incumbent City Council Members Stacking
theElection

Mark,

I am assuming nothing. The Mayor consulted the City Council regarding an
appointment. The majority of council members informed her they have reached
a consensus that they would make not approve any appointment until after the
last day to file as a candidate and be placed on the ballot. 

That is what the Mayor said, and no council member has contradicted it. A
vote was not taken, that was the problem. The City Council should have
appointed a person to fill the vacancy ASAP. The fact that they didn't was a
move that damaged the city, and helped the majority of the City Council
members running for reelection. 

Best,

Donovan 

Mark Solomon <msolomon at moscow.com> wrote:

Donovan,

You are assuming this was a decision that was put to a vote as opposed to
the mayor sounding the Council members and making a decision based on
something other than majority rules.

m.

At 6:54 PM -0700 9/24/07, Donovan Arnold wrote:

Mark,

Just like I told Tom I., I know because the math does not lie. The majority
of the council at the time was at least three, the minority no more than
two, and three are up for election, two are not, so it is not possible to
have a majority without at least one person running again.

If a politician stands to personally gain greatly from a decision made using
their office, they need to make very clear those reasons, especially when
such a decision is made and damages democracy or the public interest. 

Best,

Donovan 

Mark Solomon <msolomon at moscow.com> wrote:

Donovan,

How do you know that the objection came from the incumbents seeking
re-election and not the two members whose terms are not yet expired? Aside
from that, I agree with you that the seat should have been filled as soon as
it was legally possible to do so regardless of proximity to the filing
deadline or person to be appointed.

m.

At 11:04 AM -0700 9/22/07, Donovan Arnold wrote:

The Mayor has indicated that she could not appoint anyone to the city
council because members of the council were unwilling to approve any
appointment until after the last filing date to be placed on the ballot.
http://www.moscow.id.us/pressrelease.asp

In my opinion it is unethical behavior to use the power of your office to
rig the ballot as to not have any serious competition on election night. Kit
Craine should have been appointed long ago, and for other members of the
city council to keep her (or any new appointee) off the ballot so they have
a better chance of reelection seems unbecoming of an elected official and
this clearly moves AGAINST the best interests of the people of Moscow to
have as many qualified candidates as possible on the ballot.

In my opinion, the incumbent candidates on the City Council have
demonstrated they are willing to use the power of their office to make
damaging decisions against the people of Moscow, like preventing a quality
candidates like Kit Craine from being on the ballot, for their own selfish
interests and personal gains.

MOSCOW DESERVES BETTER.

Best,

Donovan J Arnold

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