As reported in an earlier blog post, I submitted an application to City Council requesting that they consider formation of a Housing Finance Corporation. The application was duly signed by three Rowlett residents and was accompanied by proposed Articles of Incorporation and a proposed Resolution. The application was duly submitted to the City Secretary, as instructed by counsel, and in accordance with State of Texas statutes.
I submitted the application on March 16, as duly reported on March 17. As of Friday, March 24, the application had not been received by City Council, or at least two of them had not received it. I did not call all City Council members. If two council members did not receive the official copy of the application, it is reasonable to assume that the other members of City Council did not receive their copies.
So......wha' happened? Where is the application?
The City Secretary has no determinations to make. The application was addressed to City Council........nobody else, as set out in Texas statutes. By submitting the application to the City Secretary, the submission was made "official" and could be certified as so. All copies distributed to City Council could then be certified as "officially received." All legal and official notices, and correspondence addressed to City Council must pass thru the City Secretary to assure all City Councilpersons were receiving the same information. Otherwise, games could be played by submitting information with differing language to differing Council members. However, in this case, no tasks are assigned to the City Secretary except to receive the "package," copy it, and forward on to City Council.
Now, before I go any further, I want to make a statement. In all my years of "hanging around" and eventually meeting a number of city staff members and elected officials, I have never met anyone that is stupid. Certainly there are levels of intelligence, but no one I have ever met seemed to demonstrate incompetence because of intelligence. All the people I've met seemed to be pretty smart.
However, there are widely differing degrees of experience. Loyalties, and personalities enter the picture. And, unfortunately, personal preferences can alter nearly any presentation. The one binding feature that all should share is the City of Rowlett and the duties to the citizens of the city. It is my opinion that many times an action, or lack thereof, is altered to serve personal agendas rather than present a clear and precise presentation of matters that ALL can see and discuss. Some call it innocent, accidental, and unintended "lack of transparency," but some call it less innocent "politics." I opt for the later.
There are not many options, here. Either the City Secretary is so busy it has taken over a week and a half to copy a document and forward it to Council..........or she's sitting on it for some reason..........or she forwarded it to someone else.
The above can have some sinister implications. First, the City Secretary has no duty in this event, except to copy and notify City Council.........no one else. The submission was not addressed to City Manager, Planning & Zoning, Economic Development, Planning Department, or the Library or Animal Shelter.....only City Council. I don't know if it's unlawful to purposely send someone's mail to others, but it certainly begs to question. If this was done......WHY? I have talked to some that have suggested the City Secretary sent the package to the City Attorney. That is not her call. If the City Council wants to call in the City Attorney for counsel, then so do it, but that is not for the City Secretary to decide.
If the City Secretary is just sitting on the submission, and not forwarding to City Council....... WHAT POSSIBLE MOTIVATION COULD THERE BE? BY WHOSE ORDERS?
If the City Secretary sent the package to only certain City Council members and not others..........WHY? AND AGAIN,....... BY WHOSE ORDERS? If this was done, that is just plain ostracism......maybe illegal. Any City Council members participating in such high jinks should be removed from office.
Folks, I don't like what I see here. All we citizens are permitted to vote for only Mayor and City Council. That's it. That's seven people. That's all we have. We expect our elected officials to set the policy of the city. We further expect the City Council to keep reins of Staff. They certainly aren't expected to run the day to day duties of running a city, but they have the duty to be sure it's done right. The City Council selects the City Attorney and the City Secretary. All other employees work for the City Manager.
Now........what the hell's going on? We seem to have a "shadow government" operating outside the intent of citizens who elected representatives to serve the city and it's citizens. If City Council is not being accurately informed by staff, it is either incompetency or purposely intended. The question is WHY? It ain't stupidity. What's going on?
I submitted the application on March 16, as duly reported on March 17. As of Friday, March 24, the application had not been received by City Council, or at least two of them had not received it. I did not call all City Council members. If two council members did not receive the official copy of the application, it is reasonable to assume that the other members of City Council did not receive their copies.
So......wha' happened? Where is the application?
The City Secretary has no determinations to make. The application was addressed to City Council........nobody else, as set out in Texas statutes. By submitting the application to the City Secretary, the submission was made "official" and could be certified as so. All copies distributed to City Council could then be certified as "officially received." All legal and official notices, and correspondence addressed to City Council must pass thru the City Secretary to assure all City Councilpersons were receiving the same information. Otherwise, games could be played by submitting information with differing language to differing Council members. However, in this case, no tasks are assigned to the City Secretary except to receive the "package," copy it, and forward on to City Council.
Now, before I go any further, I want to make a statement. In all my years of "hanging around" and eventually meeting a number of city staff members and elected officials, I have never met anyone that is stupid. Certainly there are levels of intelligence, but no one I have ever met seemed to demonstrate incompetence because of intelligence. All the people I've met seemed to be pretty smart.
However, there are widely differing degrees of experience. Loyalties, and personalities enter the picture. And, unfortunately, personal preferences can alter nearly any presentation. The one binding feature that all should share is the City of Rowlett and the duties to the citizens of the city. It is my opinion that many times an action, or lack thereof, is altered to serve personal agendas rather than present a clear and precise presentation of matters that ALL can see and discuss. Some call it innocent, accidental, and unintended "lack of transparency," but some call it less innocent "politics." I opt for the later.
There are not many options, here. Either the City Secretary is so busy it has taken over a week and a half to copy a document and forward it to Council..........or she's sitting on it for some reason..........or she forwarded it to someone else.
The above can have some sinister implications. First, the City Secretary has no duty in this event, except to copy and notify City Council.........no one else. The submission was not addressed to City Manager, Planning & Zoning, Economic Development, Planning Department, or the Library or Animal Shelter.....only City Council. I don't know if it's unlawful to purposely send someone's mail to others, but it certainly begs to question. If this was done......WHY? I have talked to some that have suggested the City Secretary sent the package to the City Attorney. That is not her call. If the City Council wants to call in the City Attorney for counsel, then so do it, but that is not for the City Secretary to decide.
If the City Secretary is just sitting on the submission, and not forwarding to City Council....... WHAT POSSIBLE MOTIVATION COULD THERE BE? BY WHOSE ORDERS?
If the City Secretary sent the package to only certain City Council members and not others..........WHY? AND AGAIN,....... BY WHOSE ORDERS? If this was done, that is just plain ostracism......maybe illegal. Any City Council members participating in such high jinks should be removed from office.
Folks, I don't like what I see here. All we citizens are permitted to vote for only Mayor and City Council. That's it. That's seven people. That's all we have. We expect our elected officials to set the policy of the city. We further expect the City Council to keep reins of Staff. They certainly aren't expected to run the day to day duties of running a city, but they have the duty to be sure it's done right. The City Council selects the City Attorney and the City Secretary. All other employees work for the City Manager.
Now........what the hell's going on? We seem to have a "shadow government" operating outside the intent of citizens who elected representatives to serve the city and it's citizens. If City Council is not being accurately informed by staff, it is either incompetency or purposely intended. The question is WHY? It ain't stupidity. What's going on?
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