Monday, August 17, 2009
The rumor:
Rick Rogers
Joined: May 31, 2007
Comments: 961
Seattle, WA
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Judge it!
#1
2 hrs ago The St. Marys City Council Will hold a meeting tonight on the adgenda:
NOTHING BUT EXECUTIVE SESSION
So it is not open to the public.
What is being discussed, UNKNOWN.
So they are holding a meeting that the public is not invited to so they can discuss something that the public does not need to know about.
This is why we need to end executive session in Camden County.
We have the right to know what our gov't is doing at all times!!!!
The FACTS: Tonight, at 5:30 PM, in city council chambers, there will be a long-scheduled and widely publicized meeting of city council to discuss recommended changes to the zoning ordinances with Planning and Zoning. (Correction: The meeting will be in city council chambers, but will be a Planning and Zoning work session rather than a city council meeting. However, the mayor and some councilmen will likely be there to observe and give input.) The meeting is open to the public and no part of it will be in executive session. However, on Wednesday, at 6:00 PM, there will be a special called meeting of city council to discuss a pressing personnel and legal matter. That meeting will go into executive session immediately after convening, as is perfectly consistent with state law. If any vote (s) is (are) taken, the results will be announced upon returning to open session and before adjourning.
Obtaining these facts necessitated only a two minute phone call to the city clerk. What a concept!
sandy feller
Joined: Fri Aug 7
Comments: 95
Saint Marys, GA
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Judge it!
#2
1 hr ago Just Askin wrote:
Jay now seems to see that Rick is a dumb***. I don't really care for the Wheeled Wonder but this is kinda funny.
http://camdencommentary.blogspot.com/2009/08/...
i don't find it funny. there is an old expression,"you don't make yourself big by making someone else small". it is totally uncalled for.
Just Askin
Kingsland, GA
Kingfish, you crazy old vicious fart, give it up! People now see right through you.
And just for the record, I think that Rick has done one helluva lot of good via his blog and will no doubt do more in the future. It is just that he is way off base and on a Quixotic wild goose chase with this ban executive session business. Kingfish, you know as well as I do how silly it is, but being the old Skippy-thighed vote whore you are, you will not say so.
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12 comments:
Jay, hate to tell you, but you got your Facts wrong. The meeting tonight is a work session of the Planning Commission, the council is not involved. The Planning Commission will discuss the Zoning Ordinance revision, in council chambers.
I'm sure it's just tearing you up!
Technically, you are correct, but had you attended or watched the last council meeting, you would know that he entire council was strongly encouraged to be there and likely will. At any rate, it is definitely not a secret meeting and does not involve executive session.
First Jay that is what was said on K-Bay if you read all of the post from Topix you would have seen where I wrote that.
Second,
Votes are not taken in executive session so they will not come out and annouce the results ofthe vote they must enter back into the regular meeting and then vote, if they do it right. That is a lot of trust you put into the system.
I bet no vote will be taken, and you won't ever know what was discussed.
But you are right Wed. meeting is open to the public, but you will be sitting in an empty room by yourself. And yes I know this is perfectly legal for them to do.
But if they don't want to do the peoples work in front of the people they might not be there come Nov.
And you won't either, as you are also against open gov't.
I can't believe you would pick that side as many times as Bill Smith refused your open records requests!!!!
As you very well knolw, I am not against open government. In fact, had you been here and paying attention in 1994-5, you would know that I was the complainant in an police investigation that brought down the corrupt Brandon regime.
The problem is that you either truly do not understand the perfectly rational need for executive session within the parameters of the governing law, or you do and chose to ignore the rationale in favor of some ill conceived and half-baked Quixotic crusade.
Just to let you know, no council or Mayor, but there were 3 residents.
How very thoughtful of you.
Jay,
It is funny that these people think just because we disagree on a topix that we are going to be pissed off at each other. We both know were each other stand, and you will do what you need to do, and I will do what I need to do.
I respect your opinion as I am sure you respect mine.
Happy blogging my friend
Well said. I would hope that doing what you have to do would not include voting against a candidate for his or her upholding of valid state law.
No I wouldn't, but as you know many would.
Let me ask you this, would you be open to reforming executive session in Camden County?
I think the people should at least know what is being discuss behind closed doors. (ie. Hiring new city manager.) Then the discussion itself can be private. Just the generic labels of personnel and legal can cover a wide number of topics and I believe the people have a right to know!!!!
I would always be "open" to busting the chops of any governmental body which violates the opening meetings act. However, executive session, per se, is not only entirely legal, when domne right, but in the best interest of the public.
Suppose the city is considering building a new sewage treatment plant or city hall on what is now private property. Several sites have been identified as possibilities. Here is what can - and has - happened all over the country if the cat gets out of the bag. The owner of tghe property, upon hearing of the possibility that the city may make an offer on his property, may very well hire someone to draw up grandiose plans for some highest and best use of the property which would serve to bolster his claim in court for a much higher level of compensation if it comes down to a condemnation fight. I personally know a guy who sat right in hois living room in Rincon, GA and told me that when he got wind of the likely route of
some power lines through some swampy property he inherited , diod just exactly that. he had plans drawn up for a subdivision, dug a few drainiage ditches, placed a few surveyor's stakes, and got about a million or so more than he would likely have otherwise been offered.
Suppose you were a city employee who, as it turned out, was falsely accused of say, having an affair on the city's time. Would you want the investigatrion of that to go public, especially if the rumors turned out to be unfounded.
If you were consulting with your attorney, would you allow the party on the other side of the issue to be in the room listening in? No, but apparently you would favor denying the city attorney-client privilege.
I understan and empathize wiht you concern for abuses of executive session, but oyur call for local to arbitrarily and unilaterally put an end to all executive sessions is just not clearly thought out.
Jay,
While I agree wholeheartedly with your argument for the right and need for executive sessions, I do think that the action of our City Council last Wednesday points out an ongoing problem.
This meeting was called to simply accept the resignation of the city attorney for personal reasons. That could have and should have been done in open meeting. Just because it was the city attorney who was resigning does not make it a "legal action.' A voluntary resignation on good terms does not qualify as a "personnel action." The discussion and decision of whether to continue with a full time attorney or contract with a legal firm should have been done publicly.
One more time, our City Council chose to meet behind closed doors and to keep the public uninformed. We are left to wonder why.
The executive session is a necessary tool for conducting city business; we just have to train our council in it's proper usage.
Buzzard
With respects to the particulars of that meeting, I agree with you "wholeheartedly."
I can't imagine any offered rationale for that one that would pass the sniff test of common sense.
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