Preface: Before we EVEN GET started.
WE WOULD HAVE COMMENTED on the ASININE LETTER supposedly written by Mr. MAYOR last week, BUT IT’S MARCH MADNESS TIME and the ACC TOURNAMENT was getting underway AND FOLKS, WE REALLY DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO BE BOTHERED WITH MR. MAYOR AND HIS COHORTS. ALRIGHTY, WITH THAT SAID, WE’RE BACK NOW – AND READY FOR DUTY. SO, Let’s have at it.
GRANDSTANDING – Mr. Mayor IS what YOU and the rest of the ELECTED OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN DOING FOR FAR TOO LONG TO THE RESIDENTS OF THIS CITY.
SO NOW YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THE CALL TO AUDIENCE PORTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING - WELL, THAT'S MORE THAN WHAT YOU ALL DO AT THE MEETING TO CITIZENS WHO HAVE TIME AND TIME AGAIN ASKED YOU ALL TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AND ADDRESS CONCERNS TO THE ISSUES BROUGHT BEFORE YOU – WELL YOU WANNA TALK – LET’S TALK.
First let’s start off by defining the word “grandstanding” for the sake of clarity shall we. Grandstanding is defined by wisegeek.com as the following: When someone is said to be “grandstanding,” it means that he or she is putting on an grandiose performance with the goal of impressing people, and that the performance includes a great deal of exaggeration. Essentially, someone is putting on a show when he or she is grandstanding, often to the detriment of the message that he or she is trying to convey.
A wide number of people can be accused of grandstanding; generally, any public figure who abuses his or her position to get a point across may be considered to be grandstanding, and private citizens who indulge in a bit of hyperbole may also find themselves accused of grandstanding. AND HYPERBOLE is defined as a deliberate exaggeration used for dramatic or comic effect in literature.
NOW MR. MAYOR - LET’S LOOK AT WHAT YOU WROTE: (or one of your staff members wrote for you)
Mr. MAYOR said: What The Wilson Times has repeatedly failed to report is that the council's frustration is not with the general public who come from time to time to express their concerns.
JOHN Q. PUBLIC said: What Mr. Mayor and City Council members repeatedly fail to remember is the citizens’ of this city took the time one voting day out of their busy schedules to go to their local polling place to push a button that had their names beside it. Citizens made their choices in a show of confidence and trust in those respective candidates to uphold the citizens viewpoints, give voice to their issues for their city and uphold with integrity the position you said you wanted to administer on their behalf.
Mr. MAYOR said: Our problem is that we have a few individuals who are using the call on the audience for their own personal agendas. Many of our frequent "angry" speakers are in fact candidates for office; others are tied to certain political agendas or are seeking exposure for themselves.
JOHN Q. PUBLIC said: Our problem is once the members of council were elected they seem to have forgotten who afforded them the opportunity to serve this city. You have used these elected positions as avenues to pursue your own personal agendas. Your comment referring to the speakers as angry was hurled as an insult with attempts to embarrass those who come before council to speak.
Mr. MAYOR said: The public comment time is not a true reflection of our community as a whole.
JOHN Q. PUBLIC said: That comment is correct. The public comment time is not a true reflection of our community as a whole. It’s only a SMIDGEN. The folks who have been coming to the council meetings bringing to your attention the issues of this community and attempting to share with you the “citizens-concerns” and not the “council-concerns” were the forerunners.
And now a group of more than three thousand citizens have come together to voice their opinions about the conditions of this city. And the numbers continue to grow each day, Mr. Mayor. They’re tired of not only the high utility bills, but they’re also tired of you and your coveted position as Chair of the Board of Directors for ElectriCities; AND how YOU, Mr. MAYOR are an "Advocate" for a company whose presence in this city is not welcomed. YOU are a big part of the problem.
Mr. MAYOR said: What was once a civil environment has become a podium for grandstanding and campaigning. Like it or not, the TV is the draw. When we experimented with taking the public comments off the air, the every-month regulars faded and we actually heard from average citizens.
JOHN Q. PUBLIC said: Well, that’s a very interesting spin on how you view things in this city Mr. MAYOR. However, those who actually took the time to come to the council meetings know – the presence or absence of the TV did not stop concerned citizens nor average citizens from coming to the meetings. And we remind you, the so-called every-month regulars did not fade. They continued to come asking the same questions each month concerning poverty, utilities, gas, budget approvals, financial obligations the city has incurred and other issues because council members continued to refuse to answer the questions. Month after month after month.
Mr. MAYOR said: But now, the negative environment brought by a few actually keeps many citizens away. I have had many fine people tell me that they will no longer attend a council meeting because of this.
JOHN Q. PUBLIC said: We only have your word that “many fine people have told you they will no longer attend a council meeting because of this. Well, your WORD doesn’t mean too much these days Mr. MAYOR. Quite frankly, we don’t give a flip who your so-called fine friends are or what they say. Bottom line is if they really had a legitimate concern they needed to bring before council they would or just keep telling you like they have been.
Mr. MAYOR said: No question that the current issue of high electric bills during this winter has drawn more folks to the meetings, and rightfully so. I completely understand that and people have a right to be heard. But the broader issue has been going on since the 2007 campaigns for City Council. Your articles and editorials on this topic over the last couple of years imply that council does not want citizen input. Nothing could be further from the truth.
JOHN Q. PUBLIC said: Mr. MAYOR, you insinuate the issue of citizens coming to the council meetings has been going on since the 2007 campaigns for city council. Let’s take a moment to reflect upon that statement. Ok. It sounds as if you’re implying that a certain individual that ran against you in the 2007 campaign for city council has been for the past three years since the election using the podium as a –what did you call it, “ a podium for grandstanding and campaigning.” Interesting. What you regret and neglected to say is that same individual stood at the podium educating and informing the general public about issues that dealt with ElectriCities. Mr. Mayor, that was more than YOU or ANY city council member has done in the past three years. And if that's what you consider "grandstanding" Mr. Mayor, the GENERAL PUBLIC welcomes his presence at the podium.
Mr. MAYOR said: We are simply looking for the right balance between welcoming our citizens with legitimate concerns and limiting the stage for the political grandstanding. Most people know the difference and I suspect The Wilson Times does as well. So when you cover this subject in the future or when your paper decides to glorify political candidates for their speeches, please, for transparency's sake, identify them as such. Bruce Rose is mayor of Wilson.
JOHN Q. PUBLIC said: Mr. Mayor - In your effort, to find the right balance for what it’s worth, as you did with the TV issue, perhaps you should EXPERIEMENT with allowing citizens the opportunity to be placed on the agenda to discuss legitimate concerns and have their questions answered by council. As it is, and as you voiced so confidently and boasted at the September '09 council meeting to Gwen Burton no individual citizen has been placed on the agenda for the past 18 years. Citizens are invited to come to the public comments section and share their thoughts. However, in doing so, council does not have to reply or respond. AND YOU & COUNCIL DON’T!
You sit there looking like knots-on-log or as deer with their eyes caught in the headlights. To be sure you can do something a whole lot better than that. It really does make you all look like a bunch crazed eyes idiots. Oops… Did we say that. We wouldn't want to reduce ourselves to name calling now would we. It just might be interpreted as being an "angry" citizen. And we just couldn't have that. Written by JOHN Q. PUBLIC – Citizen of Wilson NC
0 comments:
Post a Comment