[Vision2020] Question, V-Peeps . . .

[Craine Kit]

I think this basic question is two fold:

1. Does the councilor involved met the legal requirement that he  
resides in the district he represents?

2. Does the councilor's heart reside in the district he represents?

In the first instance, if the councilor does not reside -- or is  
gaming the system to claim he resides -- in the district he  
represents, should he be in office (morally or legally) when he does  
not belong to the group he claims to represent? The question is  
whether we (the citizens of Moscow, Idaho) should accept being ruled  
by an outsider (e.g. someone from Troy, Pullman, Spokane, New York,  
Mars) who will not suffer the consequences of his decisions.

In the second instance, should a person who does not have an interest  
in the future of  a community he represents (because he knows he will  
not live with the consequences of his decisions) have a moral  
obligation to step down from an office he holds?

City councilors determine the policies which run this city. Their  
decisions impact every member of the population. Regardless of of the  
legal status of a councilor's claimed residence, the question is  
whether that councilor is willing to live with the consequences of his/ 
her decisions (i.e, will they be residing in Moscow after their  
term?). The community has the right to ask why a suspected out-of- 
community councilor ran for the position AND why the councilor should  
continue to be retained in the position. The councilor has an  
obligation to answer -- AND to justify his continued membership of the  
council in terms of the long-term benefits of a community he had left.

Kit Craine


On Oct 31, 2012, at 8:58 PM, Scott Dredge wrote:

> I'd hope that the city council members would ignore most of your  
> numerous petty requests Tom, but let me know how this all works out  
> for you.  If this guy isn't carrying out his duties (e.g. was not  
> involved in any way) then that'd be the reason to jettison him.  If  
> this residency thing is a huge fricken' big deal and anyone in the  
> powers that be gives one wit I'm sure there can be some monumental  
> waste of time and effort put forth to meet the letter of the law,  
> but what'd be the point since you'd just go snooping for some other  
> minor infraction to yell 'throw the bum out'.  What a joke.
>
> From: thansen at moscow.com
> Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2012 04:19:31 -0700
> To: kmmos1 at frontier.com
> CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Question, V-Peeps . . .
>
> Bottom line:  The law is the law; the spirit of the law being that  
> our governing city council WILL NOT be comprised of nonresidents.
>
> Reasoning for noncompliance:  There was no explanation given as to  
> why the city code will not be enforced.
>
> Options:  As residents, subject to city code enforcement, we can  
> either request, in a letter to the city council and Mayor Chaney,  
> that action be taken or we can join Mr. Dredge in burying our heads  
> in the proverbial sand.
>
> I have NEVER been known to sit on my hands.
>
> As one quote goes . . .
>
> "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!"
>
> This IS important, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares"
> http://www.MoscowCares.com
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 31, 2012, at 3:34 AM, Kenneth Marcy <kmmos1 at frontier.com>  
> wrote:
>
> On 10/30/2012 11:12 PM, Scott Dredge wrote:
> It's a non-issue.
>
> One of the essential characteristics of municipal government is that  
> it is relatively local, i.e., close to those who are governed and,  
> ipso facto, those who are governed are close to those who govern  
> them. If one of those governing changes one of his characteristics  
> from local to non-local, that change creates an incongruity with  
> local government characteristics which may be resolved by  
> resignation from office by the incongruous person.
>
> It's tantamount to claiming Obama is ineligible to be president  
> because many believe he was born in Kenya.
>
> That is maldirective nonsense. Many people believe incorrect  
> information to their individual and our collective detriment. The  
> fact of their belief does not justify it, nor does it serve as a  
> basis for argument that because it is true that anything else is true.
>
> If this Tim Brown character is not eligible to be sitting on the  
> council, then someone who cares about this should follow the  
> processes in place to remove / replace him.
>
> Tim Brown initiated the processes necessary to place himself into  
> membership of the Moscow City Council at a time when his  
> characteristics were consonant with such membership. Apparently he  
> has changed those characteristics, so he should initiate the  
> processes necessary to remove himself from membership of the Moscow  
> City Council.
>
> That'd just be far too logical and it won't happen so this flap is  
> much ado about nothing.
>
> Asking other people to expend the energy to collectively act to do  
> what the incumbent could, and should, do individually with less  
> energy, and more grace, is neither "logical" nor efficient, and  
> represents a level of counterproductivity that is counterintuitive  
> to better local government.
>
> "Much ado about nothing" serves better as a Shakespearean play title  
> than as a description of this discussion.
>
>
> Ken
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