My Report Card on Last Night's Wetumpka City Council Meeting(Which a Friend and I Videotaped)

I want to preface this post by saying that this is the longest post thus far on this blog. I am finishing it at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night after starting on it around 5 p.m. In it you will find grammatical errors of various sorts because, quite frankly, I don't want to go back and proofread it and spend another 5 hours changing the way I worded certain things. I hope that you get the point in spite of whatever errors you may find. Also, I am breaking it up into two parts. The first part consists of my observations from the Wetumpka City Council meeting from September 21st. The second part is my challenge to the current administration to begin to make use of the many resources we have available here in Wetumpka. Finally, I would encourage you to check out some of the comments on the shorter posts below from where I blogged from the meeting itself on what was happening at the time. You will find some very good insights into this most recent meeting and the city council itself. Comment freely and critically because as always...I could be wrong.

Several of you are aware that I decided to videotape the Wetumpka City Council meeting last night. It is something I have been considering for several months now and last night was the premier!

I wasn't exactly surprised that the meeting didn't get underway without my being questioned as to why I was recording it. My inclination was to say because I wanted to. I didn't think that would be proper decorum so I gave a more polite answer, although neither decorum nor politeness is usually present at these meetings.

I was surprised at the high level of agitation Councilmen Hammock and Washington seemed to have over the camera being there. Mr. Hammock appeared visibly angry and made a snide remark to the mayor as the meeting began. As I said, decorum has no place in a Wetumpka City Council meeting.

The Mayor, who, in the interest of full disclosure, is my father-in-law, asked me if I would like to speak to the council and those in attendance as to why I was there with a camera. I replied in the affirmative, told everyone about my blog and that I would be putting some or all of the video here, and then proceeded to read aloud section 36-25a-6 of the Alabama Open Meetings Act which states: "A meeting of a governmental body, except while in executive session, may be openly recorded by any person in attendance by means of a tape recorder or any other means of sonic, photographic, or video reproduction provided the recording does not disrupt the conduct of the meeting." About five seconds into my recitation of the applicable section of this so-called "Sunshine Law," Mr. Washington interrupted me to ask me my name because even though I've met him countless times, he was one of about 7 people in attendance who didn't know me. But that is neither here nor there.

It was just after I finished reading this that Mr. Hammock seemed the most disgusted and uttered something unintelligible and in a rude tone of voice to the mayor and when asked by the mayor what he said, he replied, "Go on with your meeting." Funny how I've never heard Mr. Hammock or Mr. Washington complain about a TV camera being in the meeting and they have been frequently. Apparently they only want to be on TV, or on my blog in this case, if it makes them look important and my blog doesn't fit the bill I don't suppose.

Nevertheless...I thought I would grade each of the council members on their conduct last night, especially in light of the fact that they were being recorded.

District 1 Councilman, Ken Hammock - C

I'm not sure why he had such an aversion to being recorded. I believe he even mentioned something about talking to his attorney. Whatever warped reasoning was behind his disdain for what I was doing is beyond me. If you don't want to be in the public eye, Mr. Hammock, then you might consider not running for PUBLIC office to serve the interests of the PUBLIC! It's only a video camera and I only intend to let those who are interested watch it just as it is. What is the negative behind allowing more of the public know what is going on in the public city council meetings? Mr. Hammock did seem to lighten up as the meeting progressed and even made a pretty funny joke as the meeting was ending. I'm not out to get anybody, Ken. I only want to let those who don't or can't come to the meetings have a chance to see their representatives handle the city's business. They do have that right.

District 2 Councilman, Lewis Washington - D

He didn't seem to mind too much that we had a camera there. He still asked innumerable, often pointless questions. Most of them were intended to point out some wrongdoing by the mayor or the public works director. Mr. Washington, as I said briefly in an earlier post, doesn't appear to be a very happy man and doesn't seem to like anyone at all. He is constantly questioning and commenting, often redundantly, about anything and everything. It is a rare occasion that he doesn't "have a question" about an issue. Usually it is at the end of the discussion of said issue and another ten minutes is wasted rehashing everything that has just been discussed. He appears to thoroughly enjoy his time in the "spotlight" as well as the sound of his own voice. He complained that the Public Works Department and its director, Lynn Weldon, don't do their job well. He complained that that he gave the mayor a list of thirteen things that needed to be done in his district and that these things were never done. The mayor said he would follow up on the list because he was sure all the tasks were completed. He said that he and Mr. Washington could ride around together and check on them to which Mr. Washington replied that he wouldn't ride with the mayor, that the mayor could ride by himself. Mr. Washington desperately needs to stop behaving as any nine-year-old boy would and do what he was elected to do. Which is not to constantly and publicly chastise city employees at every turn. Typical Councilman Washington behavior, though. No surprises there.

District 3 Councilwoman, Kathy Holt - B

She certainly seemed more than a little interested in why the camera was there but she didn't look or act like it was a problem with her. I was pleasantly surprised by this. She asked some questions on some issues that seemed genuine, as though she wanted to make sure she understood what action was being taken or needed to be taken. She had several exchanges with the mayor and other members of the council, none of which from my vantage point seemed particularly combative in nature. Hopefully her apparent dislike of the mayor is something she is trying to deal with in a more constructive manner. After all, nobody is asking any of them to take family vacations together. In fact, we're not even asking them all to like each other. We're simply asking them to put aside whatever axes they may have to grind with one another and do what they can to make life better for those of us who live and work and shop in Wetumpka. Surely, six grown men and women can accomplish this. Here's to hoping the trend continues.

District 4 Councilman, Chris Carter - B

Again, several questions which seemed to indicate a desire for a better understanding of the issue at hand were asked by Mr. Carter. He was polite in both his words and body language. He never seemed irritated and when I talked with him following the meeting(I live in District 4) he said he had no problem at all with the camera being present. When I told him I'd be continuing this practice he was supportive. He appears to share my view that a more informed citizen is a better citizen. A huge pat on the back to Mr. Carter for simply attempting to do his job and representing the citizens of District 4. There was even a light moment between he and the mayor just before the meeting adjourned. I'll share that in a minute. Hang in there, Chris, and do the right thing. We won't always agree but we can certainly do it as friends and neighbors in a way that serves all of us well.

District 5 Councilman, Greg Jones - I

Mr. Jones was not present because of an illness. I've seen nothing thus far from Mr. Jones that would indicate to me that he would have had any issue at all with being videotaped. He has been one of the most level-headed, sincere members of this administration thus far and I don't expect that to change. Perhaps his many years of service to the people of the State of Alabama as a State Trooper have given him a greater understanding of what the title "public servant" means. Keep up the good work, Greg!

Mayor of Wetumpka, Jerry Willis - B

I mentioned earlier that Mayor Willis is my wife's father. He is the grandfather of my children and he is a good one. Having said that, for those of you who may think I am the mayor's yes-man, he will be the first to tell anyone with a concern that just because we are family doesn't mean that we always agree on issues. We have before and will again. I campaigned for him and voted for him and am happy that he won. I did inform him the day before the meeting that I would be recording the meeting and he had no problem with it. He never seemed to lose his cool or become agitated even when Mr. Washington was grilling him about something, which happened several times throughout the course of the night. I'm certain that the way this first year has played out is not at all what he envisioned and he has expressed his honest disappointment.

Overall, I'd give the council as a whole a solid C. This would be higher, as would each member's individual grade, if only someone, ANYONE, would have some intestinal fortitude and politely tell Councilman Washington to shut up! He was elected by his constituents to represent them and, as such, should certainly have a voice in city business and policy. However, he seems more interested in bullying and "writing up" employees he deems unworthy of being told they are doing a good job than in public service. I won't beat that dead horse, though it was mentioned by two citizens who attended the meeting last night that the councilman is the one who should be written up. Mr. Washington's opinion is no more important than any other member of this council. Why each of the other members seems to kowtow to him is something that I simply don't understand. Especially considering that he appears to be nothing more than someone who wants to do nothing more than stir the pot and cause disunity.