This is a Letter Richard Grubb wrote the Redmond Reporter, 1/21/09
From the front page of the Jan. 7 Redmond Reporter, it appears that the Redmond Reporter is almost as enamored with Redmond's elected politicians as they are with themselves. The six pictured white, middle brow, conventional males and two females seem content and smugly satisfied to march in lockstep.
As former Speaker of the House of Representative Sam Rayburn once remarked, when two people agree on everything, only one of them is doing the thinking. The question in Redmond is which one of the eight is thinking for the other seven?
In the Jan. 7 article, Councilmember Richard Cole claims that *boring meetings are a good problem to have. He may be an expert on that subject , but he is wrong.
Good government comes from a rigorous debate, from a clash of ideas, from opposing philosophies bumping up against one another until there is a synthesis that results in sound policy. Ennui in a community's politics more often than not brings on apathy rather than vigour's enlightening involvement.
The poet William Blake noted that "without contraries in no progression". Dissent from the commonplace wisdom of the day clarifies issues through robust discussion.
Perhaps in the next council election cycle, someone will stand who is willing to spike the Kool-Aid punch bowl that the current crop is drinking from.
As a concluding aside for the record and for the Reporter's readers, it should be noted that the two urban centers are not Mayor Marchione's vision for Redmond. They have been city policy since the mid-1990's. 1-21-09
I agree with this analysis of the situation on the Redmond City Council. The public should be concerned that everyone seems to be on the same page. This certainly cannot possibly acurately represent the public's view on many of the unanimous votes which have taken place since there inception.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
ReplyDeleteNice observation. I was wondering what kind of service Redmond Reporter is doing, reading its 'suck-up-to-mayor' articles.
With the decline in newspaper subscription, majority of the citizens are being exposed to one-sided views such as the ones
from the free Redmond Reporter.
Thanks for speaking up. You need to somehow advertise your blog somehow, maybe flyers in local stores/restaurants ?
- S
Richard Cole's statement that "boring meetings are a good thing" is a sad tale. It implies that citizens are too bored to show up at meetings, watch RCTV, view the On Demand meeting tapes, or email their councilmembers or various staff about problems. It implies that without the "soap opera" performance four of the senior councilmembers (Cole included) participated in with Mayor Ives, few are now interested in tuning in. Cole's statement plants a seed of mediocrity in our government. This, at time with Mr. Mayor is guaging public engagement by attendance at City Hall.
ReplyDeleteMany we see on TV in City Hall are staff members - sporting newly approved 8-11% salary increases for their time - and students that have to attend meetings for school.
A more accurate guage of public engagement and community involvement with governement would be to track emails and phone calls to council and staff rather than count students and staff.
Yes, Mayor Marchione has had some supreme success in find lost tax dollars, firing an inefficient finance director and hiring a competent Director Bailey. And, he is looked upon by Staff as a hero with the salary increases and
more functional manangement. BUT, that doesn't make him a God to be revered by Council. Mayor Marchione isn't our only elected representative and I hope our council will start believing in themselves and the values we elected them to represent.
Is this post about the Redmond Reporter or the city council?
ReplyDeleteIf it is about the Redmond Reporter's constant cheerleading, isn't that a reflection on the good work of its reporters? That is, the reporters can't report any bad news about city business because there is no story like you see about Seattle's viaduct.
If it is about city council, not debating issues, I have to ask if that is the purpose in council meetings? I thought the council was mostly over-seeing the administration's activity? Isn't the job of the administration to debate issues, and then present a solution to the council for final approval?
I would like to see more clarity on the issues presented in this blog.