[Vision2020] Bill "The Bully" Lambert

Sun Sep 29 11:46:01 PDT 2013

Since Bill Lambert has opted to run for mayor, and since I've had several
people contact me privately to ask why I consider Lambert to be a bully,
this seems to be a good time to repost something I originally posted here
back in 2007.

I'll add that since then, my opinion of Lambert's character hasn't changed
based on the experiences of others who've shared with me.  Words and phrases
like "abrasive," "condescending," "rude," "talks over people,"
"disrespectful," "doesn't listen," "doesn't respect people with differing
opinions," etc., have all been descriptors used . . . and those are the
flattering ones.

Wayne Price, I think, recently mentioned he thinks it's "time for a change,"
but I'm not one for giving a vote to a rude, disrespectful bully who
obviously lacks the character needed to work with diverse people on behalf
of the City.  But maybe his support of Bill "The Bully" Lambert is nothing
more than an example of the old adage that birds of a feather flock together
:-)

Anyway, here's a repost of my personal experience with Lambert's conduct
when acting in his official capacity of a P&Z commissioner.  I deleted some
of the trailing posts; for those interested in reading the entire thread,
you can find it here
<http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/2007-April/043084.html> .

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Saundra Lund
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 5:56 PM
To: 'Mark Solomon'; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Wheaton Story in paper

Hi Mark,

It's been awhile, but I'm happy to share what I recall with the hope that
others at the meeting with perhaps with better recollection might also
share.

The current Council member to whom I'm referring is Bill Lambert, who was at
the time on the City of Moscow's Planning and Zoning Commission.

Unfortunately, I don't recall the exact date of the meeting, but I believe
it was in the summer of 2005, and it might have been during the meeting on
7/13/2005.

There was quite a decent turnout for the P&Z meeting, and I remember Chair
Jerry Schutz commenting on how pleased he was to see so many people take an
interest in P&Z.  IIRC, he said they weren't used to having an audience, or
at least, such a large audience.

My recollection is that the Commission members were originally seated around
a table on the floor (where the Council Administrative and Public Works &
Finance Committees sit), but it seems to me they readjusted themselves to
sit on only three sides before the meeting actually started as more people
showed up.

I also recall that the microphones weren't being used at that point.

IIRC, I was seated about four or maybe five rows back, and Mr. Schutz asked
if everyone could hear what was being said.  More than a few people
indicated they were having difficulty hearing, and I believe Mr. Schutz said
something about they'd try to remember to keep their voices up and to let
them know if voices dropped.

At least some voices were kept up for a bit, and some commissioners did
better at this than others.  Mr. Lambert was speaking, and a gentleman
seated in the first or second row (IIRC) raised his hand to indicate that he
couldn't hear what was being said.  I believe Mr. Schutz verified that the
gentleman's hand was raised because he couldn't hear, and more than a few
others (myself included) indicated that we couldn't hear Mr. Lambert's
comments, either.  Mr. Schutz again asked the commissioners to remember to
keep their voices up, and I believe the discussion continued briefly before
Mr. Lambert again couldn't be heard and the gentleman again raised his hand
and said something like, "Can you please speak UP? I still can't hear you."

At which point Mr. Lambert became overtly hostile, defensive and downright
rude, and he said something like he was speaking as loudly as he was going
to speak and he wasn't going to yell to be heard.  Mind you, the audience
was appropriately orderly, so it's not like people talking in the gallery
were the cause.  There was a bit more to Mr. Lambert's rant, but I was so
aghast I don't recall further specifics other than there was *no difficulty*
hearing what he was saying then, so clearly Mr. Lambert was capable of
making himself heard when he wanted to.

At that point, the gentleman got up to leave, saying something like, "Public
meetings don't do any good if the public can't hear" as he left.  I think it
was clear to all present that the gentleman wasn't happy, and my eyebrows
weren't the only ones raised at Mr. Lambert's reprehensible behavior.

My recollection is that this all happened within the first 15 minutes or so
of the meeting, but again, it was almost two years ago.

I was absolutely stunned by Mr. Lambert's tirade.  I've been to a lot of
government meetings in my life, and outside some in the UK, and I'd never
seen anything quite like Mr. Lambert's attack on those who couldn't make out
his mumbling.  Quite frankly, his conduct was inappropriate, he was
disrespectful to his fellow commissioners and to the audience, and his
behavior was an embarrassment to the City he was appointed to represent.

Not only was the gentleman who was the target of Mr. Lambert's rant due an
apology, but so, too, were the rest of us present.  However, none was
forthcoming at that meeting or any of the subsequent P&Z meetings I
attended.

I'll also interject that the gentleman was only one of *many* who were
having difficulty hearing the meeting.  People sitting closer than I were
having difficulty, people sitting in the same row I was were having trouble,
and people seated further back were all having trouble hearing.

After the gentleman left, my recollection is that the commissioners
relocated to dais (where the City Council sits) and the microphones were
turned on.  Interestingly -- or not -- members of the audience continued to
have some difficulty making out what Mr. Lambert said because microphones
don't do much good if they aren't spoken into.

Mr. Lambert created such a spectacle of himself I'll not soon forget it.

And, it's really too bad he didn't have the good sense to simply apologize
as others have done -- were it not for his arrogance and had he done the
right thing by apologizing, he might well have gotten one of my votes for
City Council.  As it is, I'll always remember his inappropriate public
behavior, his poor judgment, and his tendency to fly off the handle with
little or no provocation; none of those are qualities I want in my elected
officials.

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: Mark Solomon [ <mailto:msolomon at moscow.com>
mailto:msolomon at moscow.com]

Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 1:56 PM

To: Saundra Lund;  <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> vision2020 at moscow.com

Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Wheaton Story in paper

Saundra,

For those of us who are only hearing of this for the first time, could you
elaborate a bit more?

thank you,

m.

At 10:48 AM -0700 4/5/07, Saundra Lund wrote:

>Perhaps one or the other can replace the current Council member who, 

>when serving on a commission, thought those in the audience didn't need 

>to hear what was being discussed in the public meeting by the 

>commission members

and

>who, in fact, was INCREDIBLY RUDE to an elderly man who requested the 

>board members speak up so they could be heard.

> 

>It was my opinion that had more Moscow citizens been at that meeting -- 

>or if videos of those meetings were available or had that meeting been 

>covered by the press (assuming we had a real newspaper, which we don't 

>appear to

>have) -- that particular current Council member never would have been 

>elected.  It was one of the more shameful displays I've ever seen in a 

>public meeting  :-(((

> 

> 

>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:  <mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com> vision2020-bounces at moscow.com

>[ <mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com>
mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]

>On Behalf Of lfalen

>Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 10:04 AM

>To: g. crabtree; Matt Decker;  <mailto:privatejf32 at hotmail.com>
privatejf32 at hotmail.com;

 <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> vision2020 at moscow.com

>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Wheaton Story in paper

> 

>Decker and Crabtree for City Council

> 

>Roger

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