Eviscerating the Open Meetings Act

Looks like I'll be on the phone today. Read more here. Mike Hammond was on TV Sunday explaining that the Commission was looking at the quorum rule as a solution to their woes.

The last thing we need is 9 commissioners getting together in secret to trade votes, and then holding another meeting with ANOTHER 9 commissioners in secret to get the majority.

I like Mike's support of civil penalties. Perhaps we need to enact that reform, along with a clear definition of "deliberation." Allow multiple Commissioners to meet with constituents to gather information, but not to discuss between them. That seems pretty simple.

Mike had a good point about the fact that we have two commissioners from each district, and they may need to brief each other on a meeting or conversation with a constituent that one of them had. But can't they do that with a written public memo? That would fall under "information gathering" and not deliberation- a memo or e-mail being a "one way" conversation. As long as the other Commissioner didn't respond to that email/memo, the intent of the OMA would be met.

Thoughts? Comments?

Non-Election Stuff: I might be on TV tonight

The family will be watching Extreme Home Makeover closely tonight, since this was the house I got to work on out near Pinon, AZ this spring. It was one of EMHE's more difficult projects, since it was out in the middle of nowhere (4 hour drive from the closest airport... PHX or Sante Fe, take your pick), crazy weather (we had a heat wave, rain, a dust storm, and snow fall in the same day), and we built a pretty high-tech "green" house (solar collectors, wind generators... it will be a net zero electricity house).

Since I had some experience building furniture in the home shop, I got tapped to work in the art tent with the 'talent'. Lots of interesting stories there- but I did really enjoy working with Johnny Littlefield, he's an all-around good guy, along with Big D, the shop foreman. Who knows, I might be in shot somewhere tonight. Either way, it was a great experience, and the emotion on the crew is no less than that of the home audience- and you don't need the music soundtrack to help you along.

Just a slight correction to Georgiana's Column

In Georgiana Vines' column in the KNS, I am quoted as saying that Lee Tramel's letter "suggests Tramel would get the appointment."

It's a little misleading- what I said in my interview was that the letter suggests that Tramel thinks he would get the appointment. It's a subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless. I certainly would never "give up" on an issue so important.

(But, at least Tramel doesn't go as far as to say he's still serving office, unlike others... nod to nbt44)

Oct 22- Natural Resource Recovery

One of the more interesting issues that came up was a local homeowner stating that he had been fighting for over two years to deal with an odor issue at his home, which is located near Natural Resources Recovery in Solway (where 62 meets 162).

For two years, he has been plagued by sewage-like odors, but on-site inspections seemed to turn up nothing. The resident begged for action to be taken, but it was unclear how Commission would proceed without the backing of the Air Quality board or a corroborating inspection by someone with the County (even a Commissioner).

Working with air quality issues, I suspected a few things, did a little research today, and I have a likely cause and a proposed solution that would be a win-win for all parties. See the "Comments" section for details. Maybe we can solve this homeowner's problem quickly.

Toothless Appointment Resolution

(Blogging live): Commission just passed resolution stating that they would have a public hearing before making an appointment for a vacant elected office.

No other requirements, though- no advanced notice, no details about how they might find applicants, no teeth.

Mike Hammond opined that this was a way for Commission to show that they were listening to the voters. Excellent- but I don't buy that "better than nothing" is the best we can do.

But it provided a break from the painful hour where Commissioners were trying to figure out how the health insurance industry prices SI policies and what stop-loss insurance is. Wow. I vow that, if elected, I'll do a lot more homework on multi-million dollar purchases before meetings.

Lumpy Wants to Represent Us

"...Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert had said he was willing to represent residents of the 4th District along with his own 6th District."

Oh my. Methinks Lumpy doesn't quite understand the 14th Amendment. But thanks for the offer.

(/SARCASM OFF)

It's also interesting in the article that the commissioners still don't have a clear understanding of our Open Meetings Act and have to have it explained to them ever five minutes.

Heroes: Alice Bell/Spring Hill Neighborhood Association

They returned the money that Chuck Bolus gave from his discretionary fund before being ousted by Fansler.