Five and a half years
ago, Darrell was elected Mayor. Three months into his term, after
asking a series of questions, and finding violations of law and
charter that your other elected representatives had no intention
of coming clean on or beginning to follow, he resigned. Who needs
this, right? Can't fix it with a muzzle on. This decision was met
with a wide variety of supporters, including the Heisler minions
and the council at the time. I think Diane Rinks may have even
thrown a party – since she didn't really understand what it meant
for him to sit on the other side.
He was then contacted by a man named Paul Knobel. Paul gave the
impression that he represented Senator Gary George. That turned
out to kind of be true - I give it a five on the truth-o-meter.
Darrell met with Paul at Paul's request. At the time, Darrell had
support from a group that named themselves the Concerned Citizens
of Lafayette and they were included in that meeting. (If you need
background on all that drama, please feel free to stop by and he
will explain it all. That group includes the Heisler's and
Harper's.) One of the topics that Paul Knobel discussed that got
Darrell's attention was information is control. And that those
folks that control the public documents hold all the cards.
Because if you don't have the paperwork, you can't prove that its
wrong. Paul also explained how public entities should be
privatized, but more about that later.
So, Darrell has worked for five years to get access to those
public documents. Some of the city employees have fought so hard
to keep information from the public, (you know, THOSE PEOPLE) they
have even broken laws and spent thousands of your dollars to keep
it from happening.
When Heisler and his fans ran for office, that was even one of
their platforms – ACCESS TO INFORMATION. Unfortunately for you,
they only meant access for themselves. As an aside, it was also to
lower water / sewer rates after Heisler's claim that the city is
charging $600,000.00 a year too much – but after the election, he
forgot that he told people that and has made zero effort to
remember it. In fact, if you show him the paper where he stated
it, he claims you are 'speculating'. His word of the day for over
a year.
Another of Paul Knobel's grand ideas: privatize government. While
it doesn't, necessarily, mean to get rid of the current employees
or the union, that can happen. What it means is send everything
out to bid. Projects and jobs. Make people come to you and give
you their best price. There are companies that provide support
staff for cities (and for much cheaper than we have going on right
now). This philosophy comes from Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. In fact,
Paul's recommended reading list included Resurrecting Urban
America by Mr. Goldsmith. Now, while I read it, I don't think
anyone else in the Heisler crew did. They may have scanned the
chapter headings, but that's about it.
So, here we are now. Paul has come along for the ride guiding the
Heisler / Harper sailboat. Instead of actually doing the research
to find the waste going on to encourage the conversation of how to
get more bang for our buck, Paul Knobel and the current council
has been helping the city to find ways to waste. At first, I was
surprised that current city administrator Preston Polasek would be
so chummy with Paul, given what Paul's value system included. But,
now that Preston has received two VERY LARGE raises in the 1 year,
5 months that he has been here (including numerous other perks),
it has become apparent that Preston may do anything to ensure his
prosperity. What Preston doesn't realize is that his job is on
Paul's to do list, too. But, not quite yet as Paul needs Preston
to sign off on all these little tasks.
Just a couple of items that Paul has sucked Preston into wasting
money on, only to be able to use it against him in the near
future:
The video taping project at city hall. Paul Knobel had Preston to
spend thousands of dollars to setup video taping and live video
feed of the council meetings. This included equipment and software
that we only spent a few hundred dollars on. Are we geniuses? No.
Paul showed Darrell the process and how to do it for such a low
cost. And, since we host the videos on our $18.00 a month website,
we control the content – so the viewer doesn't have to deal with
ads screaming at them like you have when you watch the city's
version on Ustream. (My favorite was for porn – had me rolling on
the floor with laughter.) Paul didn't give Preston that wisdom
because that wouldn't have accomplished the waste factor.
The next project? The council is in the process of acquiring
portraits of George Washington and Gilbert du Motier, marquis de
Lafayette. The price of this project? $4,000.00. Money they say
they will fund raise for and then cover any additional monies not
donated by the community. A community already stressed for money
will now have to cover the costs of these ridiculous projects
instead of reaping the benefits of paying off the loans.
I want you to think of the irony that the current sitting council
wants to hang a portrait of a man who ordered the National Guard
to fire upon protestors of the government. People who were willing
to die, and did, to fight for their rights – our council wants to
idolize a man who ordered them killed. And they are going to use
your money to do it. Isn't that just the ultimate 'screw you' to
the citizens here?
There is a name for this mentality that is tossed around with
public employees and public officials. Its called OPM (Other
People's Money). This would be your money.
I want you to remember these projects that the council is so
convinced that they need to spend money on and what it says about
their value system. I think that pretty much sums up why people
here laugh, ask “really?, get mad, then give up. This does not
happen without your permission. The lack of presence at city hall
gives them all the permission they need.
Congratulations to Paul Knobel. You wanted to watch them dance,
and now they are. And, congrats to Preston, who appears he will do
someone's bidding for a buck, no matter how wasteful it is.