Crossing the Thin Blue Line

I missed the commission meeting last night owing to other commitments but I did DVR it.

First of all, nine months later, the sound still isn't working for the most part. This has to get fixed.

So let's talk about what wasn't on last night's agenda.

Dr. Vogel was absent due to illness.

The Waste Management Contract was withdrawn from the agenda so there's still no resolution on that.

Vice Mayor Connie Lim Kreps sponsored and then withdrew a resolution to create a charter review board, something she doesn't want. When asked why, she snarled, "I don't have to explain it." Her contempt for the principles of governance continues to astound me.

But on the whole, very little got done.

The worst note of the meeting, from what I could make out was an incident where there was a disturbance from the audience. The chair requested order and was ignored. After several warnings, the chair asked the Sergeant at Arms to restore order and he refused, commenting to the chair, "I don't answer to you." Which is not true. The Sergeant At Arms does answer to the chair and to requests to maintain order.

I understand but have not been able to verify that the police employee acting as Sergeant at Arms has been suspended pending investigation. I'll let you know if that is confirmed.

Things are pretty bad when there is open insubordination by the city employees. I have had my disagreements with former police chief Robert Daniels but I am certain that in his new role as acting city manager he will not allow this to stand and will take appropriate action.

See, things can get worse.

Kevin Vericker
July 1, 2011