Just when you think the dysfunction with the council could not get much worse, they outdo themselves.
PARKING RAMP WILL BE GREAT SOMEDAY!
At the Budget meeting they had a presentation by Parking Director, Matt Nelson, who told the council that the bunker ramp will be great ‘someday’. Neitzert (who still thinks he did nothing wrong by voting for it) and Erickson agreed with Matt. I told them during public input that Nelson was polishing a turd.
I also told them I was frustrated that city staff was against starting some new programs. Police Chief Burns said that body cameras would basically cost to much and he would have to add staff. But hey, a $20-30 million dollar training center is ok. I told them that the cost would be worth it to protect officers and people who are arrested.
Planning Director Eckhoff also voiced concerns about starting a residential TIF program saying that remodeling houses doesn’t add much value. Oh, but million dollar condos have helped us out soooo much!
COUNCILOR SOEHL EMBARRASES HIMSELF
In a strange attempt to embarrass councilor Stehly with her SOS project resolution during the regular 7 PM meeting, without warning, Soehl guts her resolution by making the program voluntary. While I agree with a majority of the council we shouldn’t be using parking fines for charities, all the council had to do is just vote NO instead of gutting Stehly’s resolution (which they eventually did) once Starr challenged Soehl’s amendment for not properly noticing it. In Curt’s strange attempt to put Theresa in her place, he embarrassed himself by making a big deal out of a charity program. He looked like a class A, A-Hole.
AMENDMENTS TO THE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES HAVE NEVER BEEN CHALLENGED IN THE PAST
In an attempt to get back at Stehly and Starr for calling Soehl out on his little stunt, when they made amendments to the legislative priorities, they claimed they have not been properly noticed.
Huh?
The priorities have always been just ‘suggestions’ to the legislature. They are certainly not binding. If they made a 100 amendments it would not matter. Amendments have been made in the past. The city attorney, Kooistra really showed his lack of knowledge when it came to what should be noticed. Erickson actually came to the rescue by saying by deferring the priorities, the amendments now become proper notice. They deferred it for a week.
The crap coming out of Carnegie these days gets shinier by the day.