UPDATE II: I want to say that it doesn’t surprise me one bit the council voted down the advisory vote tonight (6-2. Stehly & Starr, Yes. Erickson, Kiley, Rolfing, Erpenbach, Neitzert, Selberg, NO). They want this to go away, who can blame them? When people start seeing how sausage is made, it scares them and they have lots of questions.
But I would like to give my two cents on some of the comments made by councilors Rolfing and Kiley about ‘conspiracy theories’ and the mayor’s involvement. There is none. The mayor vetoed the repeal, it is up to him or a judge to stop the bond sale. That is a fact. His hands are all over this.
As for Rolfing’s comments that he hears 10 to 1 that people are for the building, well your golf course survey is just dandy, but the petitioners have ACTUAL signatures, over 6,400 of them, approximately half the people who voted in the last city election. Straw polls don’t count in real life.
As for the defense of the city clerk and the ‘negativity’ towards him. Doesn’t matter if Danielson got the petition oath and language from the tooth fairy, it was Greco’s job to stamp it (in which he did). It is HIS stamp on the petition sheet that he received the petition. This is a FACT. There has been NO one on the council, the administration or the clerk’s office that has said otherwise. His job was to verify and stamp the petition. He stamped it, he just didn’t verify it. This is also a fact.
We can cloud this debate all we want with ‘feelings’ and ‘theories’ but the facts are undisputed.
UPDATE: A court hearing in front of the Honorable Mark Salter will be September 28, 2016 to hear the Writ of Mandamus on the petition validity.
At this point, there is really nothing to report with the validation of the petitions. Let’s just say the legal rangling is in full swing.
But there is something that CAN be done. At tomorrows city council meeting, the city council will hear and vote on the 2nd reading of the advisory vote for a city administration building.
Many have argued the election would be moot if the bond sale goes through on October 3rd. This is very much true, AND it is still a possibility. The mayor has said he will not change his mind on the bond sale. And why would he? He broke two council ties and vetoed the repeal.
But as I have said in the past, the planets could align, the bond sales could be restrained, either by a court intervention, or the mayor miraculously changing his mind. In this case, an election would be set already.
I urge the majority of the council to pass the advisory vote. If the bond sale goes through on October 3rd, it can easily be repealed. No tax dollars spent. No harm done. The right thing to do.