I listened in to that meeting and I remember him also saying along with those words something to the effect of letting the others in attendance provide input. Your leaving the table was followed by the the ASUI President and Senator coming to the table to testify. As you said, when things are being recorded, you feel more under pressure and your words sometimes don't come out right. You've done a good job, Garrett, in getting the ordinance looked into. I don't think Ament ever agreed with the part of the ordinance where it allows wholesale discretion of the police. But by passing it without waiving the 3 readings allowed the administrative committee to look at it further and "tweak" it as they say. That allowed further input and makes the process work better. Just be careful of the ones where they waive the 3 readings. Sometimes it is ok, but not always. Again, good job!<br><br><b><i>Garrett Clevenger
<garrettmc@verizon.net></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> Dan,<br><br>Thanks for your reply.<br><br>You are correct. That's why I stated in my first<br>paragraph, "saying things that may have been phrased<br>better." <br><br>I have also thanked Aaron multiple times.<br><br>I'll say it again, "Thank you for not letting this NOM<br>become law as is."<br><br>In your defense of Aaron, do you think it is<br>appropriate for him to use his platform as chair of<br>the Admin committee to be telling people testifying,<br><br>"I'm going to squash your rights"<br><br>At this point, my documentation of this process has<br>definitely made me agree with you,<br><br>"As the saying goes, you attract more bees with honey<br>. . ."<br><br>I believe that works for everybody, but being an<br>elected official, it would be wise of you to heed that<br>even more if you plan to get
reelected.<br><br>Perhaps Aaron should have heeded that advise while he<br>was a city councilman from the beginning.<br><br>Since it appears that you don't support the NOM,<br>either, what do you not like about it?<br><br>Believe me, this has been a learning process for me.<br><br>Garrett,<br><br>I would hope that you also give Ament some credit, in<br>that he asked Fife<br>to look at the info you sent in along with the<br>information he got from<br>Liz Brandt.<br><br>As the saying goes, you attract more bees with honey .<br>. .<br><br>Starting off your testimony in a confrontational way<br>obviously didn't<br>bode well for you.<br><br>I hope we get a Noise Ordinance that works for<br>everyone.<br><br>DC<br><br>P.S. Yes, you read it here first, Vizzz peeps: I<br>defended Aaron Ament.<br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com<br>[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of<br>Garrett Clevenger<br>Sent: Wednesday, November 14,
2007 11:02 AM<br>To: vision2020 at moscow.com<br>Subject: [Vision2020] Noise Ordinance Admin Meeting<br><br><br>I attended the 11/13/07 Admin meeting regarding the<br>Noise Ordinance Modification. While the other<br>meetings were frustrating, this one was like having<br>salt poured on an open wound while given a lolipop. <br><br>After working on all this for the past 2 months or so,<br>my frustration tolerance has decreased. I think with<br>that and the nervousness of having every word you say<br>recorded can lead to saying things that may have been<br>phrased better. I introduced myself and said I found<br>it ironic that the agenda item before was scheduled to<br>be hearing about a Second Amendment issue [involving<br>the city being able to regulate "ownership, possession<br>or transportation" of firearms. Obviously, that would<br>be unconstitutional.] I then said now here we are<br>talking about our First Amendment rights and me seeing<br>the council trample on our
rights.<br><br>Aaron got upset and said he wasn't going to listen to<br>me talk to him like that. He said he saw me look in<br>his eyes and say it. I apologized and thanked him for<br>bringing it back to the admin meeting. I knew at that<br>point there was too much tension to have a rational<br>discussion about this, but I continued and presented<br>my testimony. I had the feeling that at least he was<br>not listening to what I was saying. When I finished,<br>Aaron thanked me and indicated it was time for me to<br>leave. I asked if I could ask any questions. I asked<br>what part of my testimony did they not agree with. <br>Aaron thought that was inappropriate since I just gave<br>it. I said I've been saying basically the same thing<br>for weeks and have not gotten much feedback and that I<br>don't want this to just go back to the council and be<br>voted on again and made into law. I said I was sorry<br>for being frustrated, but that I was frustrated.<br><br>Near
the end, Aaron said to me, "I'm going to squash<br>your rights" and asked me to leave.<br><br>Now, I understand disagreements. I understand getting<br>frustrated when<br>you feel you are being attacked. But to have the<br>disrespect of an<br>elected official on top of all the grief over fighting<br>the NOM adds<br>insult to injury. Especially when it is being<br>videotaped and many<br>people are in the room. Especially even more when<br>that person is the<br>one who voted to send the NOM to the council in the<br>first place.<br><br>Instead of talking about the importance of insuring we<br>have responsible laws and working on ways to solve the<br>problem, my testimony was spent dealing with personal<br>emotional issues of feeling offended, something that<br>if it was bothering Aaron should have been dealt with<br>on a one-on-one basis.<br><br>My feeling is that using power to intimidate others is<br>addictive, and<br>thus we should be be wary of letting any one person
be<br>able to dominate<br>any sphere because we fear retaliation. Especially<br>when the person in<br>power primarily seems to be defending his ego.<br><br>If people you voted for are treating you like this,<br>what are people you don't vote for doing to you?<br><br>The fact of the matter is, the NOM would not have made<br>it to the city council without Aaron voting to approve<br>it. It's great that he now does not support it and I<br>thank him for this accountability.<br><br>We are talking about our First Amendment rights,<br>something I care deeply about. From what I can tell,<br>if I had not brought up my concerns from the<br>beginning, the NOM would now be law. I'm not about to<br>allow our city government hijack the Constitution to<br>suit there needs. With the apparent lack of<br>accountability and aggressive behaviors displayed<br>towards me, this process has been stripping my will to<br>fight back. Yet with all the blood spilled over<br>insuring our rights,
it has seemed important enough to<br>suffer this disrespect. They can give it to me, but I<br>will not let them do it without accountability.<br><br>It's obvious we have a dysfunctional City Council. <br>I've heard their bickering amongst each other and<br>there seems to be a lot of animosity towards one<br>another. They vote to pass laws that are obviously<br>unconstitutional and<br>many of them don't engage in the feedback process<br>necessary to write<br>responsible laws. <br>Plus, some want to squash the whole democratic process<br>by voting to suspend the rules on passing laws. This<br>system seems highly unaccountable and should be<br>subject to citizen scrutiny.<br><br>Fortunately, there is a sweet side to all this. Liz<br>Brandt, a UI Law Professor who I should have spoken<br>with earlier, thankfully testified that this law is<br>probably unconstitutional. She indicated ways to make<br>it more legal. The city seemed receptive and now<br>Randy Fife is
rewording the NOM. So whatever the<br>outcome of this, I feel a sense of vindication that<br>all this heartache perhaps is not for naught.<br><br>Garrett Clevenger<br><br>Written Record for Moscow's Noise Ordinance<br>Modification: <br><br>http://garrettclevenger.com/NOMhistory.html<br><br>This is a "living history" and am trying to get as<br>much input into it as possible. If you would like to<br>add your thoughts, then please respond.<br><br>=======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br> http://www.fsr.net <br> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>=======================================================<br></blockquote><br><BR><BR>Tom & Liz Ivie<p> 
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