January 5, 2010
Commissioner Bernard
returns with his ‘backdoor" deals’ and tricks
Here it is a new year and
we still have the same old same old going on.
Three to two has a whole new meaning.
The old commissioners that got us in the financial mess against the new
commissioners trying to do something better for the county.
First in the vote for
Chairman Comm. Hill was elected by Bernard and Pennamon 3-2. Then the Vice Chair, Comm. Pennamon was
elected by Hill and Bernard 3-2. The
same county attorney was retained and any one attending meetings gets the
feeling he represents certain commissioners and what they want. That became real clear in this meeting.
That shining moment of
the meeting came from District 3 Commissioner Jack
Bernard when he wanted to discuss procedures such as Roberts Rules of Order for meetings. He had it added to the agenda. Then just like doing a sneak play, he also produced
"Public Comment and Participation Procedures" which
he and the county attorney must have worked on over the holidays. It states that the public can make constructive
comments on the issues that come before the board in an
orderly fashion. This makes it seem that
if Comm. Bernard doesn’t like your comment or if you question him, you can be
ruled out of order and asked to leave the meeting. And you can only comment at the end of
the meeting and only if you sign in at the beginning and sit through
the entire meeting. Read it for yourself
here:
http://www.taxdogs.com/2010PubCom.pdf
Since Comm. Bernard seems to be
running the show again it means there will
be NO MORE agenda comments. Is he scared of dealing with the public and we know he certainly can’t take criticism
well. When Comm. Patrick questioned how
the commissioners could deny people to speak that pay their salaries and pay
for county business with their taxes, Comm. Bernard jumped all over her and
wanted Comm. Hill to make her shut up. You
can watch this in the video below.
Notice also in the
video, that the gang of 3 didn’t read the procedures that were handed out. It appears
soooo obvious they already knew about it!! The County
Attorney drew it up at
the request of Comm. Bernard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URLzXW6bibs
Comm. Hill was also ready to do away with the
comments. Comm. Hill stated he didn't like agenda comments because he
felt the people were trying to "sway" his vote ahead of time. DUH! Maybe this is why he never answers telephone
calls or emails. He doesn’t want to know
what your thoughts are because they might “sway” him to actually vote the way
the people want him to. Comm. Pennamon
was on board too. He’s no different
because people complain all the time that he won’t call them back. So these new procedures passed with Bernard and his two cronies jumping on the band
wagon. The vote was 3-2.
Who wants to sit through a meeting until the
end just to make a comment on something that has already been voted
on?? Especially since these
three won't pay any attention to you in the first place and don’t want you
there at “their meeting.” The public comments at the end will only be 3 minutes long and limited to only 10 people. The whole point is they don’t want you at
the meeting and if they keep you from commenting you won’t have reason to come
and actually see what they are doing.
So it
appears Comm. Bernard is back as the puppet master, just like he was before
with HIS 3 votes, but this time with Carl on his right hand and Charles on his
left. The financial hole these 3 dug during their last term can only get wider
and much, much deeper. Jack knows how
to spend, spend, spend and 3 votes will allow it to continue.
Just in case you think you might want to contact a commissioner, you
can get their emails and phone numbers here:
http://www.taxdogs.com/commissioners.htm
Remember, Comm. Bernard says
he takes EVERY call!!
