[Vision2020] To HECK with the Current Moscow City Council . . .

[Saundra Lund]

Mr. Steed,

 

What a pleasure to see an email from you from an official City account!  I
trust that the significant financial cost to the taxpayers from your
arrogance about and blatant disregard of Idaho Public Records law has since
been emphasized to you.  With respect to the previous (somewhat epic) Public
Records request regarding your behind-the-scenes maneuvers to sell our water
across the state line, my understanding is that you failed to disclose all
of our correspondence on the water issue.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you
about the disastrous financial consequences your lapses could have had for
the City.  Personally, I've continued to wonder what other correspondence
you failed to disclose as required by Public Records law.  Certainly, the
fact that you failed to comply with Idaho Public Records Law is a sorry
stain on whatever integrity you hoped to sell to the good people of Moscow.

 

With respect to the current matter at hand, it's a pity you went with an old
quote rather than with more current thinking and studies (i.e., in this
century), but regardless, I'm quite surprised you don't understand the
distinction between minimum wage and living wage.  Frankly, I find it hard
to believe the difference truly escapes you, so I wonder if you were hoping
your smoke and mirrors would fool people  Apparently, you were successful at
bamboozling a shocking number of your fellow Council members, which is quite
disappointing . . . although perhaps not surprising.  One would hope your
fellow Council members will have learned a valuable lesson from your . . .
disingenuousness on this topic and won't be taken in by your misinformation
in the future.  Of course, one would have thought they'd have learned the
lesson from your water shenanigans, but what's that saying?  Oh, yes:  fool
me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

 

I'll also add that I'm disappointed - although not surprised - to learn that
you are the kind of mean-spirited and heartless ideologue who marches
blindly to outdated and dishonest partisanship yet can sleep at night
knowing that your actions will be responsible for some good hardworking
people no longer being able to pay for their health insurance and car
repairs, or for their children's summer enrichment activities and
back-to-school supplies, or for their retired elderly parents' prescription
medications and the helpers that allow them to continue to live in their own
homes.

 

Given that you don't think a living wage is important to potential City
employees and for the employees of those doing business with the City, and
given these tough economic times, when can we look for you to put forth a
resolution that will cut the salaries of Council members by the same
percentage as is the result of your vote rescinding the Living Wage
Resolution?  Inquiring minds deserve to know.  It's a no-brainer, of course,
that should you fail to do so, no amount of your smoke and mirrors will hide
your hypocrisy.

 

Also, I'm sure you're aware that word on the street is that this rescission
was to curry favor with certain contractors who have bristled at the
requirement that they pay a living wage if they want to do business with the
City of Moscow.  I certainly hope that with the rescission of the Living
Wage resolution, contract information will be readily available on the
City's Web site for all to see.  Otherwise, it's probably reasonable to
assume that I'm not the only one outraged by your mean-spirited and
completely partisan actions, and that Public Information Requests will be
forthcoming for quite a long time.

 

I'll just ask the question:  what provisions have been made to make contract
information easily available . . . to see the light of day . . . in the
darkness of the rescission of the Living Wage Resolution?

 

 

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

 

Compassion is the basis of all morality.

~ Arthur Schopenhuaer

 

From: Walter M Steed [mailto:wmsteed at ci.moscow.id.us] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 9:20 AM
To: Saundra Lund; Sue Scott; Dan Carscallen; Tim Brown; Tom Lamar; Wayne
Krauss
Cc: Nancy Chaney
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] To HECK with the Current Moscow City Council . . .

 

Saundra,

This is certainly one of those "agree to disagree" moments.  As I said last
night:

     "The campaign to raise the minimum wage will have little positive
impact on the lives of poor people. Rather, it is a political measure that
plays to a misunderstanding of the impact of higher minimum wages. The
future of the American economy depends on a correct understanding of the
causes of prosperity. For too long, attempts to relieve poverty have been
misguided. To lift people out of poverty, we need a system that maximizes
opportunities for economic well-being of low-skilled workers."

Reed Garfield
Senior Economist

Joint Economic Committee Report May 1996


Walter Steed
Moscow City Council
1345 Ridgeview Drive
Moscow  ID  83843

Phone 208-883-0123



-----Original Message-----
From: Saundra Lund [mailto:sslund2009 at fastmail.fm]
Sent: Wed 7/7/2010 12:37 AM
To: Sue Scott; Dan Carscallen; Tim Brown; Tom Lamar; Walter M Steed; Wayne
Krauss
Cc: Nancy Chaney
Subject: FW: [Vision2020] To HECK with the Current Moscow City Council . . .

 . . . which has proven itself to be beneath contempt.  GMA toadies:  ROT IN
HECK -- you were warned that when you opted to lay lied down with dogs like
Walter Steed, you'd come up with fleas . . . and worse, as evidenced below.
I think it's safe to say that you'll not enjoy the benefit of crossover
votes in the future.

I hope all People of God and Humanity will remember this travesty come
Election Time.

And, it's absolutely mind-boggling to me that the Council thinks rabies
vaccinations important ONLY in home child cares where there are unrelated
children.  Could you BE any more asinine?!?!

With particular gratitude to my offlist correspondent.


Council rescinds living wage resolution
Wage was set at $10.25 an hour in 2006
By Christina Lords Daily News staff writer

Posted on: Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Before voting on a motion that would eliminate the city of Moscow's
established living wage, Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney asked each of the City
Council members to consider one thing: Could they support themselves and
their families on a job that pays $7.25 an hour.

The established living wage allows city employees the provide the basic
living essentials for themselves and families, and lets the municipalities
set a good example for worker's pay, she said.

Councilman Walter Steed proposed repealing the resolution after Chaney asked
city staff and the council to revisit the established rate of $10.25 per
hour at the City Council's meeting Tuesday.

In August 2006, the City Council passed a resolution establishing a living
wage for city employees and businesses that maintain service contracts with
the city. A separate resolution passed by the council set the city's living
wage at $10.25.

The resolution only required the $10.25 per hour stipulation for full-time
employees and did not include temporary, seasonal or part-time help.

The lowest paid city employee is paid $11.95 an hour, said Human Resources
Director Leslie Moss.

City Supervisor Gary Riedner said the changes would not affect current city
of Moscow employees because of the city's established pay scale.

Council President Wayne Krauss questioned whether the resolution actually
made an impact on the city and argued setting a living wage dictated what
private enterprises could and could not pay their employees.

"I don't think (the resolution) was the right thing to do quite frankly," he
said.

Councilmen Tim Brown, Dan Carscallen, Krauss and Steed voted in favor of the
repeal.

Councilors Sue Scott and Tom Lamar voted against the motion to rescind the
resolution.

Lamar said it would be a shame to rescind the resolution because it set a
good standard for the community.

The availability of jobs that offer a living wage are consistent concerns
for many Moscow residents, he said.

"We have this one small opportunity to set a tone, set a pace, set some
minimum levels with ... contractors that work with Moscow," Lamar said.

Scott said the resolution was a "great statement of intent" that set a
livable wage standard for the community.

Due to the economic recession and budgetary issues, she said she wanted to
see the council leave the living wage at $10.25 and revisit the resolution
at a later date.

In other business:

The council passed a proposed Day Care Ordinance revision that allows a
provider to work at more than one licensed facility, require rabies
vaccinations for dogs, cats and ferrets in a day care facility, exclude
related children and children watched in their own home from the definition
of day care and allow providers of day care to four or five children to be
registered annually, among other changes.

Council passed a joint resolution regarding the safety of U.S. Highway 95
from Moscow to Thorncreek Road. The resolution includes endorsements from
the Latah County commissioners and the North Latah County Highway District
Board of Directors.

Christina Lords can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 301, or by e-mail to
clords at dnews.com.



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