city councilor pay raises

right now the city council is composed of men and women who do not work "full time" at other employment and obligations. that gives them a different prospective than those who work full time, just to get by.

so if you want someone to work for you full time; you need to expect to pay them a fair wage.

it is worse than ironic though, that as we discuss their pay raise; the council is discussing our right to free speech at a public forum that is on the record.

there is no other place in government, where a citizen can stand face to face with their public servants and to speak to their conduct and competence as public servants.

citizens have a right to petition their government eye ball to eye ball and on the record.

they use a particular "individual" as justification to further limit citzen's right to petition their government.

that bothers me for at least two reasons; first, I could easily be that individual.
rather than recognizing my right to ask legitimate questions on the record;
rather than respond to the questions by telling the truth;
and despite the abject lack of evidence of any kind of lunacy;
I have been cast as a "lunatic" as an excuse to get me off of the record.

the second and more fundamental problem is the failure of the premise.

the fundamental right to speak on the record is not diminished in the least, by the conduct of any individual citizen at a public forum. it would not be diminished if every participant in the forum had "issues".

I have seen and heard this woman; I have even talked with her. I have never seen or heard her do anything that diminishes her right to petition her government on the record.

there is a line;
either citizens have a right to speak on the record and
be afforded an appropriate amount of respect; or they do not.

the county commission and the aps board of education
have already decided that citizens no longer have
the right to petition their government on the record.

while the city councilors are not considering moving public forum off of the record entirely; they are stepping in the wrong direction.

it would appear that the situation is correctly resolved by paying councilors a fair wage; and expecting them to bend over backwards in an effort to respect our right to petition them on the record.

make no mistake.

when the county commission, or the city council, or the school board has the right to decide who does and does not enjoy the right to free speech on the record; no one has that right any more. a right is not a right, if you have to ask for permission to exercise it.

there is a line.