[Vision2020] Moscow City Council's Megaload Discussion

[Art Deco]

Why should anyone be surprised at Steed's actions?

Steed is a sneak.  I doubt that he even knows how to do anything in an open, public manner.

w.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Saundra Lund 
  To: 'Sue Hovey' ; 'Moscow Vision 2020' 
  Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 9:00 AM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Moscow City Council's Megaload Discussion


  Sue, I think another point or two or three are perhaps still worthy of
  discussion.

  For instance, why did we have two (highly paid) City administrative staff --
  both attorneys, BTW -- advising Council members & our Mayor drastically
  different on procedure?  Did either of those attorney-administrators
  consider Idaho's Open Meeting Law, which trumps Robert's Rules, or was it
  only Robert's Rules that was cared about?

  Additionally, since according to City Supervisor Gary Riedner it's the
  policy of the Council that Resolutions are included in the Council packet,
  why wasn't Steed's?  IOW, what was the emergency nature Steed's Resolution
  such that it didn't see the public light of day and wasn't included in the
  packet prior to being sprung at the meeting . . . and why did other Council
  members support such a drastic deviation?

  Did Steed's stunt comply with Idaho's Open Meeting Law?  I'm not an expert
  by any stretch of the imagination, but my reading indicates that that it
  *might* not.  Steed's Resolution wasn't on the agenda, so it seems to me the
  procedure set forth in IC 67-2343 for amending an agenda was the proper
  course.  Needless to say, that procedure wasn't followed.  Does anyone have
  any input about whether or not Steed's stunt complied with Idaho's Open
  Meeting Law?

  Similarly, thinking people wonder about a "hidden" agenda since there was no
  emergency such that Steed's Resolution needed to be voted on that particular
  night with ***no*** notice to the public and with -- presumably -- no prior
  discussion with other Council members (which would be a violation of Open
  Meeting Law, even if Steed did in member-by-member-by-member -- those kind
  of "serial" discussions ARE a violation of the law, no matter how
  "informal").  Yet, with presumably no prior notice, three additional Council
  members apparently couldn't *wait* to make such a huge deviation from
  Council policy.  Absent exigent circumstances, such regrettable Council
  behavior certainly gives the *appearance* that Idaho Public Meeting Law
  wasn't followed, which is never a good thing.

  IMHO, absent exigent circumstances, it's the *appearance* to the public that
  Steed's stunt didn't comply with Idaho's Open Meeting Law that Steed & the
  other Council members owe an apology for to Moscow's citizens.  That
  deviation from the policy of including Resolutions in the agenda *hurts*
  public trust, something that far outweighs whatever coup Steed thought his
  "feel good" Resolution would accomplish.

  Sue, I also particularly appreciated your insightful comments about the
  mega-load public meeting/forum -- I, too, wonder what the purpose of the
  public forum was, given that the data gathered hadn't even been "collated
  and distributed" (again, according to Riedner) before Steed's cowardly*
  Resolution was sprung & passed.  Frankly, why should we expect
  representatives of ITD or Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil to consider local concerns
  when SOME of our own elected representatives didn't care enough to get the
  fuller local picture before bum-rushing the "feel good" resolution through?

  *Note:  I think the Steed's Resolution was cowardly because of the way Steed
  went about it:  no prior public notice, no prior ability to read the
  wording, and no action other than accepting & discussing a report was on the
  agenda.  Thus, many concerned community members with real lives didn't
  attend that particular Council meeting.  Would have Steed & the rest of the
  sheep have had the stones to pull such a stunt in a packed Council chambers?
  We'll never know because Steed -- supported by three other Council members
  -- took the coward's path rather than an open & honest one that good
  government demands.

  I had some other questions/comments I've been thinking about (including what
  on earth were the Council members thinking in voting in support of a
  Resolution that virtually ***begs*** the IDT to change the night transport
  requirements, would those reports written by City officials that Steed put
  so much weight on be the same if the mega-loads were coming through town at
  8 AM, noon, 3 PM, or even 8 PM as Steed's Resolution desires, etc. ), but
  since I didn't have a chance to post sooner, I suspect I've missed the
  "interest" window.  Ah, well . . . 

  Hey -- if anyone reading this knows of any civil disobedience plans for
  if/when the mega-loads come through Moscow, ***please*** let me know.  For
  obvious reasons (including the Council not giving a rip about full input
  from Moscow citizens), I'm not interested in attending public meetings or
  writing letters.  However, Steed's stunt -- along with the other lemming
  Council members' disinterest in the input of their constituents -- has
  annoyed me enough that I'm willing to participate in civil disobedience if
  needed, and I've got some friends who would also probably like to
  participate   :-)  For a variety of reasons (including the fact that even I
  get tired of tilting at windmills, and since our governor & his henchmen had
  sold us out *long* before we'd heard a word about the mega-loads defiling
  Idaho qualifies as tilting at windmills), I'd made a conscious decision not
  to get too involved in the issue.  However, given our Council's blatant
  disregard for and disrespect of citizen input on this highly controversial
  issue, I'm ticked enough that I'm willing to express with action my absolute
  disgust at the Resolution.



  Saundra Lund
  Moscow, ID

  The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
  nothing.
  ~ Edmund Burke


  -----Original Message-----
  From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
  On Behalf Of Sue Hovey
  Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2011 2:43 PM
  To: MoscowCares at moscow.com; Moscow Vision 2020
  Cc: Jane Kauzlarich; Borg Hendrickson; Friends of the Clearwater; Fritz
  Knorr; Jeanne McHale; Marilyn Beckett; Joann Muneta
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Moscow City Council's Megaload Discussion

  Somewhere I had a thread in this discussion where I stated Randy Fife had
  teamed up with Walter Steed to blindside the mayor.  Walter sent me an email
  to tell me Randy had nothing to do with it.  Yesterday I saw Nancy at
  Farmers' Market and she agreed.  So the video should not be interpreted with
  an inference that Fife was helping Walter create council chaos.  He did it
  all by himself, with council members who were willing to support him.

  Sue

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