•Councilmember Crow's Feb. 27, 2011 Update

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UPDATE FROM TERRY CROW: February 27, 2011

As your first ward councilmember, I feel it is my duty to share with you my concerns about recent events that have occurred in our city. My concern is that these actions are evidence of a growing trend that will have a detrimental and long-lasting impact on our community. I believe we are tearing apart the very fabric of University City. Those with the power are dismantling our community infrastructure, demoralizing city employees, and creating a great deal of ill will.

I am asking for your help. The Monday, February 28 council meeting (at 6:30 p.m.) is a critical meeting for our city. Please consider attending. There is so much to cover that I am only addressing the most critical topics at this time.

Resolution to Reprimand Councilmember Byron Price

For the first time in my tenure on the council the mayor is asking the council to reprimand an elected official. This is the second letter that the mayor has issued directed to Council member Price. The first letter referenced an alleged voice mail left by Mr. Price to the city manager. I have listened to this voice mail personally. There are no threats, veiled or otherwise, contained in this voice mail. However, if you wanted to listen to this voice mail, the city will charge you $100 for access to this voice mail. Open government?

The resolution is based on allegations that Mr. Price defamed the city manager, spoke in a bullying fashion to an employee and a member of council, verbally attacked a council member, the mayor, and her office, became physically menacing by rising from his chair, and impugned the reputation of members of council.

I was there. Mr. Price never left his chair and only spoke passionately on behalf of the citizens he represents and residents from all corners of our city. But don’t take my word, you can listen to the audio of the meeting at http://ucitycitizen.org/. If my memory is correct, only one member of council has ever stood up during a meeting and actually shouted at the council and that was council member Ricci. I will find it disingenuous if council member Ricci votes to reprimand council member Price for conduct she alone has exhibited.

And regarding treatment of employees, once again, council member Ricci’s record for verbally assaulting and interrogating city employees in a “menacing and bullying fashion,” are well documented in council minutes and email exchanges.

Sadly, this is part of council majority’s plan to silence our citizens by intimidating Mr. Price into submission. When the first reprimand was issued (and hand-delivered to each council member by a police officer), the mayor made it clear that council member Price would be subject to further disciplinary action, which could include his removal from office.

Budget

At the last council meeting I raised the concern that Resolution 2011-4, though presented innocuously, would be “bootstrapped … to be used in a number of ways to make structural changes to the city government.” Mr. Sharpe also noted that though the city manager has the authority to hire and fire, he hoped he would get the consent of the council first.

Yesterday, we were informed that the city manager, using Resolution 2011-4, eliminated 9 positions. One was from police, one from fire, and the rest from Parks and Public Works. This comes on the heels of many other reductions including the termination of the assistant city manager, the HR director, and the IT department. The city manager claims the reduction in workforce is necessary to balance the budget. However, in many instances, the city manager has replaced terminated employees and the development department is adding employees.

Additionally, the city manager, mayor, and some members of council assert that we can continue eliminating positions and maintain the current level of services. One of yesterday’s terminations has likely put a Parks grant in jeopardy as now there is no one to administer the grant.

These reductions come at a time when we have the highest level of cash reserves in our city’s history, which occurred during the greatest economic downturn since the great depression. Based on current projections, it is possible that the city may even add to these cash reserves during this fiscal year.

Ethics versus Civility

We should never choose ethics over civility or civility over ethics. However, the mayor is seemingly overlooking the alleged violations of the Missouri Campaign Finance Laws by council member Kraft. View this issue as reported by the West End Word and draw your own conclusions.

It is unfortunate that the mayor seems to be concentrating on council member Price rather than the far more egregious actions of the city manager and council member Ricci. A mayor should espouse neutrality with her fellow members. She should be concerned about accessing and transferring personnel files to an outside, unsecure email account. Instead, she turns a blind eye to these questionable actions.

In another chilling slight to democracy, the city manager and mayor have refused to answer, or have any city employees answer questions regarding the removal of a citizen from a city board that I posed at the last council meeting.

None of the 42 questions that I asked about this matter have been answered, except for providing one legal opinion. Yet, at the conclusion of that council meeting, the mayor answered a reporter’s question by stating that, “the city attorney gave us an opinion that it was an illegal appointment and I took the action that I felt was necessary.“

There is no authority in our charter for the mayor to unilaterally remove a board member without a council vote. This is ongoing evidence of the mayor usurping her position as defined by our council/city manager form of government delineated by the city charter.

A Police State

As residents begin to rally behind council member Price, Council member Ricci has gone on public record to request increased police protection at Monday’s council meeting.

Rather than being concerned about creating a police state at council meetings, I think Ms. Ricci should focus on the reason people feel disenfranchised. When people feel there is a hidden agenda or their government is not transparent, it is only logical that citizens will become more vocal. Ms. Ricci should not use the threat of police action to silence those with whom she disagrees. Ms. Ricci should not use heartbreaking events of others for her political agenda. In the United States public meetings occur every day. Tens of millions of citizens are involved and acts of violence are not carried out. We should be confident that citizens of U. City will act appropriately and not assume that people who want to participate in the city’s dialogue are prone to irrational acts.

Seventeen years ago, I chose U. City to be my home. Similar to many of you, I chose U. City because of its diversity, cultural attributes, progressive values, and sense of community. Now I fear that the essence of our community is under attack by the aggressive tactics being deployed by the council majority. We all need to find our voice in these challenging times and participate in the dialogue regarding the future of our city. I hope to see you Monday night.

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• UCityCitizen.org • Paulette Carr, Ward 2 Councilmember, City of University City • University City, Missouri 63130 •