Last night at the city council meeting the mayor looked directly at me after I left the podium and laughed when no one answered my question. I was asking why the attached documents for two separate items were identical online. He thought it was funny and when I questioned him about it on the other agenda item I said, “Was it funny Paul?” He responded, “My names Mayor.” (FF: 27:00)
Also notice how he tried to cut me off, because he has NO FREAKING CLUE WHAT PRIOR RESTRAINT IS.
If this was a one off, I would understand, but lately I have noticed that not only are directors, attorneys and clerks making mistakes on the agenda (dates incorrect, grammar errors, financial errors, fee errors, attached documents, etc) but they are being resubmitted to the council for corrective action. Last night there were several items from the planning office that had to be corrected for incorrect fees being charged.
Apparently this is a laughing matter to the one running the administration.
“The buck stops here” is a phrase that was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with that phrase on his desk in the Oval Office. The phrase refers to the notion that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions.
I have said many times that the city is on cruise control because we have an ineffective leader at city hall. I get it, people make mistakes, we are all human, but isn’t it ironic that an administration who wants to shorten the meetings by starting them early and limiting general public input to the end of the meetings is actually making the meetings longer because they are consistently correcting mistakes.
While they certainly know how to run winning campaigns, they have NO clue what to do when they win.
It’s called pareidolia (believing what they want to believe without basis and realizing why). It’s not considered insanity but should be. There’s no cure but it helps to worship Trump and Jesus Snow Plows.
Respectively, in his ‘official’ capacity you are to refer to him as “Honerable Mayor Paul TenHaken”, same as for each of the Council members, in their official capacity, they are “Councilman or Councilwoman” followed by their name. Doing so any different, may be seen as a lack of respect to the position(s).
And you nailed it. I do call elected officials by their respected title, if I ‘respect’ it. I do NOT respect this mayor and his continued assault on 1st Amendment rights. If he wants to act like a toddler who is watching a comedic puppet show when he chairs meetings he should expect me to respond in kind.
Maybe try being respectful Scott. Be nice, like the nice Kristi Noem commercial with her mother. You see, nice people see you as a little troll, and won’t take you serious.
I think Respect? has a point. You should only use the most respectful addresses in your future interactions with the Mayor. Take advice from Humpty Dumpty.
When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.
A Brit explained to me that the libel laws are different in the UK and defaming a politicians intellectual capacity or integrity can get you sued and having to pay damages. So he developed a phrase substitution habit. You use surface nice language which means something else to you which helps you resolve the cognitive dissonance which would otherwise result. Maybe “My most esteemed Mayor” translates in your mind to “You idiotic dunce” or maybe “My most honorable Mayor” translates in your mind to “You corrupt moneygrubber”. Even if you don’t tell anyone else what your key phrases translate to, you feel better. The dissonance is minimized when you are obligated to use them and everyone praises your niceness. He also advised that once you develop your translations you stick with them so that when discussing stupid actions you use the right language and when discussing corrupt actions you use the right language. Politicians will respect you. After all words like unemployment and recession can always mean only what you want them to mean.
Well, I dont know whether or not he disrespects the 1st Amendment or not, I would argue the fact that he DOES in fact ‘respect’ the 1st Amendment. I believe this may be a idealogical disagreement between yourself and the mayor, let alone how a public meeting may be operated.
I may be wrong, sometimes I am wrong, but most times I am correct. But the FIRST AMENDMENT only ‘restricts’ the Federal Govt from adopting any such law that disrespects the establishment of FREE SPEECH. In fact, as a “FREE” and “SOVEREIGN” People, “WE” have the ability to self govern ourselves, and to adopt rules as to how “WE” wish to govern the practice of. Therefore, you must combine both the 1st Amendment with the South Dakota Constitution, Article 6, Section 5 to learn how “South Dakotans” have governed Free Speech.
FREE SPEECH/PRESS:
“Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble; in accordance with the South Dakota Constitution, Article 6, Section 5 – Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right. In all trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, when published with good motives and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense. The jury shall have the right to determine the fact and the law under the direction of the court.”
You would be asking the South Dakota Attorney General, the Governor, let alone the Legislature to ‘defend’ your sovereign rights against the Federal Govt in this case, and if you wish to ask the S.D A.G to defend you, then he would have to apply Article 6, Section 5 of our constitution in that process of..
Couple that with the “Peoples” right to regulate and manage a Public Meeting by the very rules “they” wish top adopt, and you will see, that the MAYOR has the directive to manage City Council Meetings accordingly.
Respectively, even where you may disagree with a certain President, Governor, Mayor, or any Public Official, you must always refer to them in their “Public Capacity” for ‘we’ are not dealing with them in their private or personal self.
You may disagree with my assessment here, but I would tend to believe that if you treat them accordingly, they will respect you as you wish them to in return.
A few public commentators have often come before the council in the past, calling the councilors and the mayor by ‘fictional cartoon names” – that is a sign of disrespect, and probally would lead to negative responses by the council. I would shy away from that type of behavior…
IT is hard, cause in todays political climate, there is so much turmoil, disagreements, however, we must all at least try to get along professionally.
I have made an effort NOT to attack or call out Political Parties by name, choosing to call out the LEFT or RIGHT sides of the political spectrum. I see both Democrats and Republican Party’s as the LEFT, cause if you go to the RIGHT, you get NO Government, let alone Anarchy or Chaos.
LEFT WING POLITICS = Collecticism, Corporatism, Capitalism, Fascism, Socialism, Communism, Marxism, TOTAL CONTROL….
RIGHT WING POLITICS = Limited Goverment to No Government to Anarchy or Chaos.
I suspect, in both degrees, the far left and far right could both end up with “DICTATORS” cause from TOTAL CONTROL or by means of CHAOS, you end up with Political Obligarchies.
So I find being respectful, by not calling them out by name, but by respectively honoring the position, is key, even where you disagree.
The council meetings are NOT a court of law where I am being judged by my peers. I have NO obligation as a non-elected official, private citizen, to address someone by their title. If I were sitting on the dais, I would have that obligation. Besides, this has nothing to do with how I address elected officials. Incredible disrespect was shown to me when 1) a simple question could not be answered about a posted agenda item 2) laughing at me as if it were funny that they were withholding public information. He should consider himself lucky I called him by his first name instead some other colorful word I could have used. I have noticed quite a bit that the council likes to laugh at the public essentially mocking them while sitting on the dais. I have seen winks at each other, and chuckles. It would be different if one of them actually told a joke or a person from the public was intentionally being funny. But when a serious question is being asked, a serious response should follow.
When egomaniacs meet, you both look childish.
Just imagine for a moment that Scott had actual authoritative power…..OMG!!!
2 things Scott is good at: grammatical errors and looking childish.
When is BradyHaken going to pull-out the Khrushchev shoe?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKdo1xwVK7s