Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 88. Sunrise is 6:09 AM and sunset 7:45 PM for 13h 36m 03s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 31.4% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Police & Fire Commission meets at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to make a public appearance in an automobile.
Consider the following discussion during the 8.15.23 Whitewater Common Council meeting, about submitting agenda items before a meeting:
City Manager: We’re doing things in order of priority, and then we’ll take new requests. So any thoughts on F1 through F8 that we need to get up there right at the next meeting?
Council President: Yes. I had one that you and I argued over ad nauseam and it didn’t make it on the agenda.
City Manager: Agreed. I checked with the city clerk and as the request came in at 2 PM on Friday, it didn’t meet the city ordinance for being turned in by the Tuesday before the meeting.
Council President: Oh, well, then I guess we’ll have to change that because that’s we’ve never enforced it before.
City Manager: The city clerk is choosing to enforce the ordinance.
Council President: We, well, we’ve never enforced that before. And there’s also a policy that says the staff is supposed to have their stuff in by noon on Wednesday and packets are supposed to go out on Thursday, and we’re supposed to get a draft agenda on Tuesday.
City Manager: What I’m hearing you say is you’d like to discuss item F7 at the next meeting.
Council President: What I’m saying is, I want to discuss [pauses] notes…
City Clerk: That also could be F8, discuss agenda item request policy and how we go about because it’s not being efficient. I think what both of you are saying as you want F8 to be discussed at next meeting,
City Manager: It’s a good idea.
Council President: F what discussed?
City Clerk: F8 discuss agenda item request policy.
Council President: I don’t have an F8.
If this exchange seems odd to you, then you’re not alone. On the question of following policy, the council president should be following policy, not violating it. Leadership should not be doing less than others, but instead as much or more than others.
If a topic had been known at a meeting two weeks prior (discussed “ad nauseaum”), then there was ample time for a council member to present the topic before the subsequent meeting’s deadline. Government officials, themselves, should be expected to follow their deadlines. Their first reflex should not be to make it easier on themselves (“Oh, well, then I guess we’ll have to change that”).
The argument that a policy should not be enforced on equitable grounds might apply in cases of discrimination, disability, or destitution, but those exceptions would not apply to an elected official.
We would expect the students at Whitewater High School to turn their work in on time, so that they would develop the habits that make America a competitive society.
We should expect at least as much of government officials.
Unique baby giraffe with no patches born at Tennessee zoo:
Transparency matters. Fulfilling one’s oath of office matters. As they should.
City municipal code 2.08.010
(b)(b)
The city council meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the following guidelines:
(1)
The agenda shall be established under the authority of the city manager. Councilmembers who wish to have agenda items addressed need to make their request no later than twelve noon on the Tuesday prior to the common council meetings. The city manager shall honor all legal requests of councilmembers.
Perhaps….
7.04.040 – Responsibility of public office.
Public officials and employees hold office for the benefit of the public. They are bound to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this state; to observe the highest standards of law in the exercise of the powers and duties of their office; to impartially carry out the laws of the nation, state and city; to discharge faithfully the duties of their office regardless of personal considerations; and to recognize that the public interest must be their prime concern.
HAHAHA!!!!
Does not work if we want more time for our taxes!!!!
Virtuous institutions — those that fulfill the standards they’ve set and the commitments they’ve made — are also competitive ones. It’s less productive institutions, those willing to make comfortable compromises for a well-placed few, that take refuge in relaxed standards and revised deadlines.