Reference the last Tuesday night at the fights commonly called the BOA meeting!
Amazing! We have a Mayor in his second term who refuses to call on a Crestwood citizen (Steve Nieder,) when the Citizen has had his hand up for some time, and finally has to tell the Mayor he has a comment!
Now this may have escaped "his honor" when he read the job description of Mayor, but EVERY citizen deserves the right to be heard, and that includes Mr. Nieder. Do we have any idea when Mayor Robinson will come down off his lofty throne and allow the BOARD to call the shots at THEIR meeting?
Your "honor" the name of the meeting is 'THE BOARD OF ALDERMAN MEETING," not the Mayors night! Please stand down and let the eight elected officials do their job!
I also have been told that EX-Alderman Bland has asked that the red light cameras FAILED IDEA be re-heard by the Board via a "work session." Mr. Bland, this has surfaced twice before and both times it has failed as it should, MISERABLY! Why do you feel the need to run this foolish idea by the Alderman again, have your feelings been hurt because it was tossed out?
Now we come to the Civil service Board who should be renamed the "Robert's rules of order specialists!" My goodness kiddies when you have a motion on the floor, someone seconds it, your supposed to VOTE on it, not move on to the next motion! I fear all you have done is cause great embarrassment to your boss, Mr. Jim Eckrige, who had to explain your actions!
Two other perennial favorites were trotted out for the umpteenth time, that being the Sappington House Restaurant lease agreement which was not even close to being ready for anything much less a vote of the Board, and the famed old "bridge to nowhere" in White cliff park whose champions demand another "look-see" at the feasibility of fixing the "condemned" bridge using partial Federal Grants, and strangely enough if we can do this for ONLY $28K out of our pocket, I say do it! We may never see another chance to get that funding again!
All in all, the meeting made a democrat town hall meeting look like a "ladies sewing circle," but hey, this is America, we have the right to decent, and be heard (get it your honor?)
Tom Ford
MO. 657
Now this may have escaped "his honor" when he read the job description of Mayor, but EVERY citizen deserves the right to be heard, and that includes Mr. Nieder. Do we have any idea when Mayor Robinson will come down off his lofty throne and allow the BOARD to call the shots at THEIR meeting?
Your "honor" the name of the meeting is 'THE BOARD OF ALDERMAN MEETING," not the Mayors night! Please stand down and let the eight elected officials do their job!
I also have been told that EX-Alderman Bland has asked that the red light cameras FAILED IDEA be re-heard by the Board via a "work session." Mr. Bland, this has surfaced twice before and both times it has failed as it should, MISERABLY! Why do you feel the need to run this foolish idea by the Alderman again, have your feelings been hurt because it was tossed out?
Now we come to the Civil service Board who should be renamed the "Robert's rules of order specialists!" My goodness kiddies when you have a motion on the floor, someone seconds it, your supposed to VOTE on it, not move on to the next motion! I fear all you have done is cause great embarrassment to your boss, Mr. Jim Eckrige, who had to explain your actions!
Two other perennial favorites were trotted out for the umpteenth time, that being the Sappington House Restaurant lease agreement which was not even close to being ready for anything much less a vote of the Board, and the famed old "bridge to nowhere" in White cliff park whose champions demand another "look-see" at the feasibility of fixing the "condemned" bridge using partial Federal Grants, and strangely enough if we can do this for ONLY $28K out of our pocket, I say do it! We may never see another chance to get that funding again!
All in all, the meeting made a democrat town hall meeting look like a "ladies sewing circle," but hey, this is America, we have the right to decent, and be heard (get it your honor?)
Tom Ford
MO. 657
posted by Crestwood Independent at 17:33
8 Comments:
Some of the antics at the Crestwood board meetings are getting more ridiculous as time goes by.
Sometimes, in order to save something, you have to dismantle it and start over.
FYI on red-light cameras:
In the last session, State Senator Jim Lembke introduced SB211 which seeks to ban red-light cameras statewide in Missouri.
Catherine Barnes
Did Mr. Golterman explain or support why he feels current Civil Service Rules in question may be against Fed. and State law?
Did he explain why this change to the Charter(section 13.2)should not be governed by the Charter's Section 13.7?
Mr. Golterman will "get back to us!"
I think he is waiting for orders from "his Honor" before explaining anything.
Tom Ford
Mr. Golterman is not exactly a constitutional scholar. Don’t hold your breath waiting for his nomination to the Supreme Court....
There is always a delicate balance between the First Amendment rights of municipal employees and the interest of the government as an employer to promote the impartiality of public service. Make no mistake, Crestwood city employees are public servants. They must be above reproach.
Here is the link for the policy for St. Louis County Civil Service Rules on political activities:
http://www.stlouisco.com/personnel/rule23.pdf
Here is the link to the political activity provisions of the St. Louis City Charter:
(see sections 17, 18 & 19)
http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/cco/charter/data/art18.htm
The Hatch Act (specific restrictions on political activities of federal government employees) has state and local counterparts. Although many cases have been brought by public employees claiming abridgement of First Amendment rights due to restrictions on political activities, the courts have consistently ruled against public employees seeking to expand their rights to political activities while occupying positions of public trust. The issue cuts both ways - by not being allowed to participate in political activities municipal employees are protected as well as restricted.
Mr. Golterman, I don’t know exactly WHY the BOA pays you enormous amounts of money to mislead them, but for some reason they do. We are stuck with you, as you serve at their pleasure, not ours. I think you need to do a little more research before you state that the current Civil Service Rules for the City of Crestwood are in conflict with First Amendment rights and that the City Charter is unenforceable because it is in violation of state or federal law on this subject.
Who is behind this attempt to get around our Charter? The mayor that's who. Why? because he wants the Fire Fighters Union to work for him to get re elected as no one else in Crestwood will do so any longer.
7:12 AM poster: Indeed the Mayors ever shrinking circle of friends does not bode well for re-election at all.
Since the dog catcher position will be eliminated in December I fear he may have to retire to the farm and build the "Robinson library" for all of us to visit and stand in awe of.
Tom Ford
12:47 AM August 15
Thank you for your informative post. Your references and the points you make about the necessity for civil servants to be above reproach due to their unique positions within the community (whether they reside in that community or not) are well-taken.
Crestwood's own civil service rules require that employees treat the public in a non-discriminatory manner. How could they be expected to uphold this requirement if they were allowed to participate in political campaigns in which they would be openly favoring one resident over another?
Restrictions on free speech exist in many different types of professions. In most cases, these restrictions or limitations exist for ethical considerations and to avoid potential conflict of interest issues.
Martha Duchild
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