Tonight's Wetumpka City Council meeting was lacking in high drama, negativity(except for Mr. Washington, but that goes without saying), and pettiness. Other than Mr. Washington's suggestion that the city council amend personnel policy and take away the mayor's ability to hire any part time employees, which was completely baseless and without merit, this has to have been one of the least contentious, civil meetings I've seen in a long, long time. And may I say, IT WAS GREAT!
Mr. Hammock, Ms. Holt, Mr. Carter and Mr. Jones, along with Mayor Willis, handled themselves with decorum and civility and it was a sight for sore eyes! When Mr. Washington made his ridiculous proposal, it never got any traction from anyone and when asked by the mayor why he was attempting to change this long-standing policy Mr. Washington seemed at a complete loss for words. He could not say that the mayor had abused or misused this privilege and not once did he ever offer any reason why he wanted this action taken. I have my own ideas but I'll reserve them for later.
As for the rest of the council...Kudos to you! What this tells me and everyone else in attendance tonight is that you actually are capable of looking past personal agendas and likes and dislikes, and perhaps the undue influence of certain other residents of our city who haven't taken to the private sector well. You asked relevant questions and, once informed, seemed to want to make decisions based on facts and the good of your districts and our city rather than to make someone else look bad.
There was more laughter at this meeting than I suppose I've ever heard. If this is what it looks like to have city officials who are concerned with what best serves the interest of the public, well, then...may I have another, please? Please don't let this be an anomaly! This meeting got rave reviews from every, single person I have talked to thus far. Well, except for Mr. Washington's attempt to accomplish whatever his diabolical little mind had dreamed up. Other than that, this is what these meetings should look like. Dissent and debate are expected, even encouraged. All we the public ask is that you deal with these disagreements honestly and openly, the way that a leader should and when they are settled, let them be settled. I hope that tonight's meeting is a harbinger of things to come. It can be if you want it to.
You've shown us now what you are capable of, so there can be no excuses anymore. We liked it and now we want more. Try really hard! We heard lots of positive things about Wetumpka tonight and personally, I'd rather go back to writing about pizza, fireflies, the Electric Slide, and whether or not fish have shoulders.
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2 comments:
Hi Thad!
Just read your blog and you spoke the truth! Now, how hard was it for these two individuals to act like adults? The other one, Washington, apparently very hard! Look, council people Holt and Hammock, we know you're reading this. Don't you know now that the only way the public will stop talking about you is for you to stop acting like children and begin to put the city first? You've acted civil one time, now can't you do it again, and again and again? We've gone thru one year and nothing has been accomplished for the good of this city. Just look back and see all the bad things you have caused. You've hurt a lot of people and you've messed with their livelyhoods. You've proven to the public that you can act like somebody so don't come back to another council meeting acting like you have this past year. If you three (KH,KH & WA) want to claim victory and feel you won this year, so be it, but let the Mayor, Mr. Jones and Mr. Carter have a year so they can MOVE WETUMPKA FORWARD and feel like winners also. That will equal to your bad one year and three more good years. There is still time to change this thing around, however, I wouldn't count on winning in 2012. I think the damage has been done, but HARD LESSON LEARNED. "F" means you failed and your mama is not going to be happy! All eyes will be on you. Again, if you don't want this blog to be about you, be a good steward! Whatever's written the next time, well, we shall see.... it's totally up to you!
Thad,
I believe you have brought the meetings to the public and eyes are watching and mouths are talking. Sorry that this type of public service lies on the shoulders of few, but that's the way it usually works. Hopefully the productive, civil meetings will continue!
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