That's going to cost time and money, won't it? Sure, there might be some savings down the road, once you add in the costs of changing what has already been decided, but probably not much.
Would revisiting pension reform be just one of the first things the new Council will try to revisit to change what has been adopted by the current Council?
A common thread running through the campaigns of some candidates concerned decisions made more recently by the current City Council.
If some of those decisions are revisited by the new Council makeup, it will certainly require additional costs and staff time.
If the new Council is successful in changing what has already been decided concerning pension reform, might that embolden them to seek changes to other decisions made by the current Council?
It is time for progress forward and not rehashing the past. Let's move on because it will probably be more financially prudent to just do so.
There are those of us in RPV who are demanding transparency in our government and staff so we can learn what is legal to learn and know about all things in our city.
There are those who wish to revisit staff compensation who also want to find full transparency as allowed by law. I don't object to this but I have some 'ideas' that the new Council might attempt to make changes in pension and other compensation before everyone has the opportunity, through transparency, to see what is actually the full facts.
I agree completely with former Mayor Ken Dyda that there is not enough transparency right now.
What I fear is that the discussions and decisions regarding staff compensation will be done before or during the time we are all still trying to learn what is actually the truth.
Transparency first! Then, when we all have the same facts before us, that will be the time to discuss and if necessary, make changes.
As long as there is still no true transparency, it will not be a good idea to decide anything else, in my view and it would then seem to indicate that the new Council will make changes to what has already been decided in a more vindictive way, rather than a rational and well-discussed way.
Since 8:00 PM Tuesday evening, I have been very busy but not busy enough to not have learned a thing or two about what might be in our city's future, whether you feel it is a good thing or a bad thing.
Even before the election, it has been considered that the new Council makeup will be much friendlier to big business than many claim the current Council has been.
It is not inconceivable that the makeup of the Council will allow for even more friendlier associations with and for big businesses.
Perhaps we won't see any more 'problems' with the folks at Trump National having their hedges and other things growing higher than municipal code currently allows.
That might not be a big deal for some, but when code enforcement visits your home and tells you that trimming is required, what will you do when you see what might be allowed for others?
With the election results, I certainly did not get what I was hoping for, but I did get some comfort in the results.
"Councilman Jim Knight" is a really neat moniker and all of us are going to be positively impacted by his governance, wisdom, intelligence and constructive reasoning on all the matters that come before Council. A sometimes quiet demeanor in a very thoughtful man.
"Councilman Jerry Duhovic" is also going to be a neat moniker for this decent and strong man.
While Jerry and I will disagree on much, he has demonstrated great strengths of character and a strong will to serve at his best, on our Council.
Unfortunately for folks like me, we are now back to a 4-1 imbalance towards many leanings, with the new Council makeup.
We all had to deal with a similar situation when the late Dr. Peter Gardiner served as the more conservative member of our Council with what was viewed as four 'liberal' members.
Back in those days it got so bad that lawsuits were filed and a Freedom of Information Act usage created a true storm against the calmer tide of staff and government.
Now, with a 180 degree turnaround, we are going to have to wait and see what unfolds.
The voters have spoken and I think they got two out of three correct. I'll take the 67% and be very pleased it wasn't 100% and work as hard as I can to help RPV progress forward without revisiting what most people was a pretty bad past. (Even though I won't contend the recent past was all that bad.)
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