The right wingers and the media have been having fun with my outburst the other night at the council meeting. I get it. The only thing I regret is that I did not stop at my 3 minute mark. For that I (mildly) apologize. But my decorum pails in comparison to what several councilors (RS5) have been up to and the mayor. They have been violating the Roberts decorum rules for months. One of the reasons I showed up is because I was frustrated with how Councilor Erickson constantly berates Councilor Stehly anytime she proposes an ordinance or resolution. She is vicious. Any councilor has a right to propose ordinances and resolutions, and it was a good one, but we know Erickson is doing this because the election is two weeks away. It is politically motivated and disgusting and highly unethical. On top of that, she should of recused herself for voting on a resolution that affects her private business. Also unethical.
But let’s move onto Mayor ‘Child of God’ TenHaken (as he called himself in a FB video last night posted above). Mayor ‘COG’ has been speaking out of order for months. One of the reasons I assumed that the security guard didn’t even get up from his chair when the mayor demanded it from the podium is because the mayor didn’t have the gavel, Council Chair Selberg did. It was Selberg’s duty to gavel me and send me on my way. While my outburst may have been disruptive, it was NOTHING in comparison to the Roberts Rules violations of several of the councilors and mayor. If we want to have a discussion about civility and decorum, let’s have it. But first you need to obey the rules also and set an example. I often tell elected officials when they demand respect that respect is earned and not automatically granted. If you respect the rules, I will also.
Of course what got lost in all this is what I actually testified about and why it was hypocritical of the ENTIRE council and mayor to do what they did. They are telling the private sector that it is safe to go to work and go out to restaurants and bars but several city employees are (supposedly) working from home. But we really have no proof. The issue I have with this is that if you are telling the rest of us it is safe, it is time for city employees to return to the office, provide services, open the pools, libraries and transit. Many of the low income people in our society are suffering because they don’t have access to the library (internet) and to transit. I think is it HYPOCRITICAL to say the private sector is safe but public employees are not. Are they some special class of people? It appears that way. And on top of that, why is it safe for public works, parks, fire and police to show up to work each day, but not building inspectors, librarians and other office staff? I have been working in an office all the way through this, we put measures in place to be safe, and so far, it has worked. This isn’t rocket science folks. (FF: 2:50)
Calling out elected officials for being hypocrites is NOT dangerous to civil discourse. It is calling a spade a spade. Kettle meet black.
But the media has had fun playing my clip on the radio (KELO AM Right Wing Wacko Radio) without identifying me. Joe Sneve has been the only one to identify me on twitter. But last night’s performance between Don Haggar (Americans for Stupidity) and Mayor ‘COG’ was interesting on FB. Without mentioning my name throughout but throwing me in the basket of deplorables. Everyone they mentioned was anonymous which made it seem we were all one in the same, from the anonymous blogger (not sure who that is) or the anonymous 2nd Amendment threatening person on FB, to the fake twitter accounts and finally me who was a fellow ‘Child of God’. I’m not sure if Detroit ‘COG’ Lewis has a very good ring to it.
I will state something I have said several times before, I don’t do anonymous posts on my site, FB or twitter. If I have an opinion or criticism you will get it directly from the horses’ mouth. What I found odd (or even more hypocritical) was the mayor complaining about social media but admitting he uses it all the time to get out his message and videos. I have often suggested to my elected official friends that you probably shouldn’t have a FB page associated with your political position, and if you want to post a video, do it thru YouTube where you can shut off commentary. But that’s a whole other discussion.
One thing Paul pointed out was he preferred that citizens reached out to him privately instead of thru public input. I have the exact opposite opinion. When citizens have concerns and grievances with elected officials, they need to air them publicly to not only inform those officials of issues but the public. Unless it has to do with personal information about yourself, you should always strive to air your concerns in public during public input. Democracy dies in darkness folks, and there has been a lot of darkness from the administration these days.
And lastly, Paul keeps peddling this idea that our tax dollars should not be spent on tornado cleanup. He exclaimed during the video ‘Look how much money we saved!’ Really? We are concerned about saving money during a disaster cleanup? Infrastructure maintenance such as roads, storm cleanup, etc. should always be top priority. And last I checked we got reimbursed by FEMA. I will say it again, we pay taxes for exchange for services, not for entertainment facility mortgages and failed parking ramps. When there is a storm, send out the troops and clean the sh*t up hypocrites!