As a Charter Commission member, I'd like to offer the following insights:
First, the vote of 10-6 would have been 9-7 if Rod Halverson was able to vote for his own amendment. He had to vote "No" in order to bring it up again later. This issue has not gone away.
Each member of the Charter Commission should have looked upon the issue as a matter of right or wrong. It's just dead wrong to have a half-cent sales tax imposed on the county citizens, fans and non-fans alike, for the benefit of a private and wealthy organization. The vast majority of speakers said so.
The amendment was a safety valve for those citizens who understood that the County Commissioners were out of control and bypassing the will of the people. Such an amendment is perfectly legal and appropriate.
In this case we have a renegade Commissioner who made a deal with the Vikings, and does not care if he's held accountable or not. He is of an age where he has openly boasted how many government pensions pensions he's drawing from. Hence the people need a counterbalance, the Charter Commission is it. We were not appointed to sit on our hands, stand idly by while the Charter and the people are trampled by special interests and a careless elected politician.
Why did more Charter Commission members not vote for the amendment? Special and hidden agendas. But mostly a failure to spot right and wrong. A failure increasingly prevalent in our society and the cause of most our problems.
I know Rick personally and can vouch for his understanding of things. It is difficult to argue with what he's saying, but a couple of things merit additional discussion.
Rick is too much of a gentleman to call out the name of the "renegade Commissioner," but I'm happy to provide his name. The commissioner in question is Tony Bennett, who will tell anyone that he is a Republican but has rarely acted like one. Bennett has been living inside Zygmunt Wilf's coat pocket for many months now. Bennett has been the point guy throughout the process. It's also quite likely that this is Bennett's last term on the Ramco board, so he's looking for something to be his legacy, other than grabbing a pension from every possible governmental entity you could imagine. And Bennett is more than happy to spend everyone else's money to get it.
Bennett's situation is unusual, however. Most politicians eventually face the voters and I still believe it is better if unelected governmental entities leave decisions to the elected politicians. I understand why Rick and some of his colleagues felt the need to use their position to become involved in the debate. I also understand the desire to have referenda on important issues. Still, I am uneasy when every important issue becomes a plebiscite. One of the responsibilities of citizenship in the American model is to be informed and to elect politicians who make wise decisions. Situations of this sort are where things get dicey.
I'm not sure how this will all play out. What I do know is this -- even if we can't stop Tony Bennett, we can and should try to influence his colleagues on the board. If you live in the New Brighton area and oppose this project, you might want to let Jan Parker know how you feel. A polite phone call or email is both appropriate and one of the requirements of good citizenship.
No comments:
Post a Comment