After getting caught - literally - doing a dirty deal to scuttle the men's cold weather shelter, the Benton County Commissioners have been furiously - literally - trying to do some sort of damage control. But their efforts have been both halfhearted and ham-handed.
A huge part of the overarching problem is that the Commissioners have clearly gotten very, very used to operating with no public oversight. Hence, the common use of incredibly vague "agendas" for meetings that don't tell the public what, if anything, is going to be discussed. That alone is deceptive, destructive of trust, and possibly illegal.
Then you've got all the County Commissioner meetings being held during the workday, when it is difficult for people to attend.
In the case of the cold weather shelter, those two problems twined together with a third problem, and the most dangerous one: Making decisions on items with no members of the public present on a subject that was not on the meeting agenda. That is clearly meant to shut out public input and oversight, and is illegal.
As part of their "damage control" efforts, Anne Schuster was sent out to represent Benton County at the recent public forum on the shelter decision. Her defensive performance, paired with her very deferential attitude towards a few wealthy business interests, did not go over well with the majority of those in attendance. Rather than shutting down debate, she only raised new questions about how the County operates, and how the Commissioners make their decisions.
Now we have part two of the Commissioners "your call is important to us" efforts coming up: A proper meeting of the County Commissioners to, in public, with an audience, discuss this issue again. They have scheduled this meeting for next Tuesday, July 10th, at the Sunset Building, at 4077 SW Research Way. They've chosen the Sunset Building for this meeting because they're expecting people to, you know, actually attend and their regular meeting room downtown doesn't accommodate many people. (Which raises the question of why you have your regular meetings in a room so small as to literally squeeze the public out...)
Of course, these efforts to show they are open and care are still problematic. The Sunset Building meeting room is indeed bigger - but the Sunset Building is far away from pretty much everything, which is a barrier to people coming. (Especially the homeless.) And compounding the where problem is the when problem: The meeting is set for noon. As in, still right in the middle of the work day. As in, still at a time - and now at a place - that is difficult for most members of the public to make it to.
Philosophical question: Are elected officials representatives of the public that elected them, or just publically-empowered free agents? Personally, I believe you're elected to be a public servant, public property really. You're elected to serve the public - full-stop. And when that's case, and especially when you're getting paid $84,000 a year, or more, I don't think it's unreasonable to bite the bullet and give up an evening or two to have a public meeting that actually accommodates the public.
I mean, that is your job in that role, right? Public service. I don't know that we're getting that now, but if I'm elected, you'll sure have someone in there who will work every day to instill that attitude in all levels of Benton County government. We won't just have a Sunset Building - we'll also have a lot more daylight.
A huge part of the overarching problem is that the Commissioners have clearly gotten very, very used to operating with no public oversight. Hence, the common use of incredibly vague "agendas" for meetings that don't tell the public what, if anything, is going to be discussed. That alone is deceptive, destructive of trust, and possibly illegal.
Then you've got all the County Commissioner meetings being held during the workday, when it is difficult for people to attend.
In the case of the cold weather shelter, those two problems twined together with a third problem, and the most dangerous one: Making decisions on items with no members of the public present on a subject that was not on the meeting agenda. That is clearly meant to shut out public input and oversight, and is illegal.
As part of their "damage control" efforts, Anne Schuster was sent out to represent Benton County at the recent public forum on the shelter decision. Her defensive performance, paired with her very deferential attitude towards a few wealthy business interests, did not go over well with the majority of those in attendance. Rather than shutting down debate, she only raised new questions about how the County operates, and how the Commissioners make their decisions.
Now we have part two of the Commissioners "your call is important to us" efforts coming up: A proper meeting of the County Commissioners to, in public, with an audience, discuss this issue again. They have scheduled this meeting for next Tuesday, July 10th, at the Sunset Building, at 4077 SW Research Way. They've chosen the Sunset Building for this meeting because they're expecting people to, you know, actually attend and their regular meeting room downtown doesn't accommodate many people. (Which raises the question of why you have your regular meetings in a room so small as to literally squeeze the public out...)
Of course, these efforts to show they are open and care are still problematic. The Sunset Building meeting room is indeed bigger - but the Sunset Building is far away from pretty much everything, which is a barrier to people coming. (Especially the homeless.) And compounding the where problem is the when problem: The meeting is set for noon. As in, still right in the middle of the work day. As in, still at a time - and now at a place - that is difficult for most members of the public to make it to.
Philosophical question: Are elected officials representatives of the public that elected them, or just publically-empowered free agents? Personally, I believe you're elected to be a public servant, public property really. You're elected to serve the public - full-stop. And when that's case, and especially when you're getting paid $84,000 a year, or more, I don't think it's unreasonable to bite the bullet and give up an evening or two to have a public meeting that actually accommodates the public.
I mean, that is your job in that role, right? Public service. I don't know that we're getting that now, but if I'm elected, you'll sure have someone in there who will work every day to instill that attitude in all levels of Benton County government. We won't just have a Sunset Building - we'll also have a lot more daylight.
No comments:
Post a Comment