Council Meeting 8/2/2010 6:30 pm

There is a council meeting on Monday, 8/2/2010 at 6:30 pm. The single topic is water issues. When Darrell gets home in a bit, we will post the agenda, but it is at the city website, under the council tab. It is not on the calendar.

It is noted, that while we were receiving regular updates while the levels were below fire flow, we no longer are. So, the drama only seems to suck those in while they can prove a public hazard. It doesn't seem to be in anyone's interest to just keep people updated on basic information.

But, there are issues to be addressed so we can stop this constant need for ebb and flow of water, and personal energy. I don't think one single person is right in all of this. But, we have heard from a number of respected authorities who have contacted us directly, and they have some really good questions. And, I want them to ask them. And I want them to get answered.

I encourage all to go to the meeting. Even if you don't want to ask questions there (if the mayor so allows); you should at least get your information first hand.

Ironically, at exactly that same time, Dayton City Council will also be meeting. So, I will be attending that meeting, while Darrell attends (and tapes) Lafayette.

Have a great weekend. Conserve water. And be kind to animals.

Angela Flood
www.lafayetteoregon.org

All the water that will ever be is, right now.

National Geographic, October 1993

Water Information Update

First, I want to say: I get that there are credibility issues with believing what the city is saying. There are politics galore, etc. But, here's my reasoning for believing them.

Jim Anderson, the Public Works Foreman could lose his job if he is lying. If he is preventing access, he could lose his job. If he is filing false documents, that is a crime, with punishment.
If Mayor Heisler is lying, what will happen? He will get called a liar. If he continues to refuse to step to the plate, and continue to do nothing in this situation, what will happen? Nothing. Will anyone remember come November? He refused to answer his phone, so Council Prez, Chris Pagella made the call. Not an impulsive human being. He tends to work on the side of logic most of the time.

So, given that criteria - who will you believe? And, now, don't you want to know why they aren't putting more in place? Well, that requires the Mayor to call an emergency meeting. Staff can't call it. Two councilors can call it, but that would mean they would actually have to work as a partnership.

So, here's some numbers to mull over:
The reservoir is 500,000 gallons.
The total height is 28.5 feet.
Each foot is 17,543 gallons.
A cubic foot is 7.48 gallons. So, 100 cubic feet is 748 gallons.

We use about 500 cubic feet a month at our house, but for this experiment, we will use 600 (because sometimes we do - we actually used more last month because we cleaned that fabulous deck.)

600 cf divided by 30 days = 20 cubic feet. That's what a simple house will use (There are a number who use much less, some who use much more. Lots of people don't go above the 300 cf, while Mary Heisler told me 2 years ago, they used, like 2300 or 2700 - something like that because of lawn watering.)
So, for this usage, say every house used 20 cf a day. That equals 149 gallons a day.
There are about 1200 billed customers in Lafayette.
That means we need to use about 179,500 gallons for each customer. We don't outside water. We don't wash our car (big surprise). We don't have a pool. We don't have a garden. so, 179,500 just for basic living.
Given that the reservoir has a fire flow level of 22 feet, and we were at 19.6 this morning, the reservoir will only continue to empty.

With the reservoir only holding 500,000 gallons, if the city stopped pumping, we would have enough water for 2-1/2 days. If another pump burns up, we lose more input.
So, the 2-1/2 days is if all you are doing is basic living. Showers, laundry, coffee, pets.

So, we are below safe levels. The Mayor still waters. The council doesn't make the restrictions stronger.

Whose house are you willing to lose, if the situation should arise, so you can water your lawn?

Just curious. If you find issues with my numbers, please let me know and I will post the corrections. I won't write over what I wrote before, but I will list it as a correction. We will continue to post on the website information as we are able to get it from the city.

For people complaining about Dayton not being restricted - here is what Darrell found out today. They never had an ordinance before - which I knew. (My thought - until they started working with Lafayette, they probably never needed it.) They have presented it, but it has not been passed yet - so they have nothing to enforce. So, unless you are looking for someone to go bulldog their citizens, the responsibility for being sane lays in you. You can't enforce a law that hasn't been passed yet. They have rights. They have asked their citizens to conserve. But, there is a process that must be followed. And, Dayton has a really great council, so stop wondering about what they are not doing, and start wondering about what's not being done here.

Chris Heisler lives at 1407 N Madison over at Morgan's Vineyard. Stop by and ask him what he's going to do about this. And let me know if he's still watering.
If you want to talk to me, I live at 287 Canyon View Drive.

Thanks for your time.

Angela Flood


You don't want your credibility banana to turn brown, but you do want to speak out about what you believe in.
Bradley Whitford

Today, the City of Lafayette has instituted Water Crisis Level One.

What this means is you may not water except on the odd / even water schedule.

We are assisting the city to get this message out. The message is on the reader board at city hall and posted in the glass case.

The reality is we are below what are called fire flows. We do not have enough water, available at a good level, to deal with an emergency, should it arise.

What I am asking from you:

Please contact your neighbors and advise them. We have the flyer from provided from the city listing what this means to you. I know, that given how low we are, we could hit level 2 quickly. The city will be enforcing this, and the fine is not cheap.

The permission was given through Council President Chris Pagella, after the mayor was not available. I am not interested in getting into the politics of whether you believe we are short or not. It is documented, and it is authorized through city ordinance. And, it will be enforced.

Help everyone out. Limit to your needs and notify your neighbors.

Please forward this message. Get the message out.
 

Official Notice of Water Restrictions

Angela Flood
 

Emailed on July 25, 2010

Getting the Banana from City Hall
 

There was a meeting held Thursday, July 22, at city hall to interview candidates for the City Administrator Pro Tem. I would love to fill you in on the details, but I couldn't hear (because of my deafness) and I couldn't see to read lips (because I was intimidated by the mayor and Chris Harper from the right to do that). So, I will tell you what I do know.

The council interviewed three people. Who they are isn't really relevant right now. The council is meeting again on Monday, July 24th at 3:30 in the afternoon to interview one more and bring back another from Thursday. Once they make a decision, which they may or may not do, I will give you the background I have on that person.

The meeting was interesting, to say the least. The mayor (remember that guy from a couple years ago screaming for citizen involvement and access?) decided that he was holding this public meeting as a courtesy to citizens. As a favor. No matter that the city didn't advertise the position, didn't publicly approve a hiring process and the public has not had a chance to weigh in. All three being requirements of the law before they can move an interview of a public official to an executive session. But, Heisler stated a favor he was providing, none the less.

Darrell videotapes the meetings. Pretty common knowledge. Well, the attorney that showed up Thursday apparently was not informed about that. He almost broke his neck trying to find a way to block it. So, he came up with some lame stuff about how it violates ADA to video tape interviewees. Doesn't matter that the video is not being done by the city. Doesn't matter that Darrell isn't a decision maker in the process. Doesn't matter that public meeting law pretty much prevents the city from stopping him, as does the first amendment. Doesn't matter that nothing in either ORS or ADA prevents it from happening.

In fact, only the four councilors can decide who will be hired. All people who are sitting there, physically viewing the person themselves. Guess we should get on the line to C-Span and tell them they can no longer video tape confirmation hearings. Or tell Skype they are no longer allowed to broadcast interviews. I was not aware that Chris Heisler is now the end all when it comes to determining the constitutional rights of anyone. But, when I contact all these agencies, I will be sure to let them know that he holds the knowledge of all that is true in the world.

Here's the kicker. I didn't have my Attorney General manual with me, so all Darrell could do was agree with the mayor's offer of a 'compromise'. Well, compromise isn't exactly what I would call it.

A request for assistance was sent out to over 110 different media resources we have, listing the entire matter. Every single response I have received has provided additional support for access, most quoting the AG manual and case law.

Considering the council has not presented any of these applicants with a description of the duties that will be required of them, as required by ADA, it seems they themselves have already opened up that can of worms for a lawsuit with each person they have interviewed. I guess Chris will have to find another route to block the taping. The only way to rectify that is to bring them all back to re-interview. I found out all of this by having to do the research to try and locate any kind of shred of what the attorney was talking about. Couldn't find that, but I did find a whole bunch of other stuff that people with disabilities are entitled to and what is required of the city. So, I guess I can thank Chris for that.

At least I now know why Heisler wouldn't refund everyone's water money that he says we are owed. He's going to need it defend all of the legal cases the city has walked into over the last few months. As he likes to say: its his meeting and he is the one in control.

We finally were able to acquire the software to get the videos posted from the meetings. Later tonight, we will start with Thursday and work our way backwards. I don't know how many months we will have available at one time, so if the file size is too big, or you don't see a month you want, let us know and we will get you a dvd at no cost. So, here's what I want from you:

Stop blindly believing what you are told. Not from me. Not from Chris Heisler, Not from the 'Concerned Citizens' over at newlafayette. Not from the News Register. Not from Dean Rhodes. Use that information as background filler, sure. But, watch the video for yourself. They are really big files, so let us know if that is an issue and we will provide a DVD copy free of charge. Then get your butts to a meeting and talk about what you see.

We have heard so many rumors about meetings lately, its really bizarre. No one has been hauled off to jail. No one has left meetings slamming doors. There have been arguments. People get like that when they have been lied to. And, boy, have they ever been lied to. No forward movement can occur until the people who have been wronged have had the opportunity to receive reparations for the behavior that has been allowed to escalate.

At what point is asking questions in defense of another person's rights considered an act of rebellion? Apparently, it is the moment that you challenge Chris Heisler. Or when you stand up for human rights in Tienanmen Square. Sometimes its a tank. Sometimes its a cap gun by way of the mayors website.

So, as we continue to document the fiasco as it all comes crumbling down, I will continue to let you know my point of view. Am I mad? Yes, but at least I know I'm not alone.

If you want to forward this, be my guest. If you don't want to receive these 'alerts', let me know that as well. If you want to read the rest of my rants, they are all located at Angela's Alerts on the website.


Thanks for your time.

Angela Flood

www.lafayetteoregon.org

Emailed on July 18, 2010

Correction to message yesterday
 

I re-read the charter for, like, the 40th time this morning.

Regarding council vacancies:
The recall made the two seats vacant. Not up to the council to declare vacant on those. The only seat they have to declare is Michael's, after accepting his resignation.

But, here's the twist.

It isn't up to the mayor to determine if he will appoint people to those seats. The charter says he shall appoint. So, based on what we have already learned from the courts, will and shall are the same. It is a direction, not a choice. Doesn't say may. It says shall.

But, given that the charter also says the mayor shall countersign all orders of the treasury, and he doesn't do that. And it says he shall sign all orders of the council, and picks and chooses on that, let's see if he actually follows the charter now.

Sorry about the mis-information. But, I'm not one to avoid admitting I made a mistake.

Thanks for the time.

Emailed on July 17, 2010

Yamhill River Health Warning - Heisler Contact – Updates from Last Meeting – Upcoming Meeting – Website Updates – Stalking Alert (Franz Truper)

On KLYC radio yesterday, an announcement was made that the City of Dayton had a sewage pump station failure. This caused untreated sewage to dump into the Yamhill River at that location. So, people are being told to avoid that area of the Yamhill River. This warning is in effect until Monday.

The recall results are now official. Bob Cullen and Dean Rhodes have been recalled from their council seats. And, now Michael Roberts has resigned? Did it have anything to do with the false comments his wife made at the last meeting about a young person in our community? I don't know. He has chosen to make it about losing his constituents to the voters in the recall election. So, we have a council of four members – all Morgan's Vineyard residents. Until the council can actually make the declaration of the council seats being vacant, all four of these folks will have to attend in order to make a quorum. Once the declaration is made, then it will only take three people to have a meeting. If the mayor does decide to fill the seats, it would be great if there was some representation for the rest of town.

At the last meeting, both Councilor Harris and Councilor Roberts offered the mayor a chance to make good on his statements regarding the city collecting an extra $600,000.00 from residents on the water / sewer charges. You would have thought we would have at least gotten some kind of break considering how much the mayor has publicized the city is ripping us off. Well, guess what. Instead of honoring his words, he suddenly did not ever remember making those statements. No refund, and no honesty. How's that for a great Thursday night?

The mayor's wife, Mary, has made public that the the best way to contact the mayor via email is not at his recorded mayor address, or even his personal address. The best way to reach him is at work. That's what she uses, too. So, that address is cjheisler@autotrader.com. Feel free to drop him a message if you need to reach him. Calling him doesn't work. He either doesn't get messages or he doesn't return the calls. He says he doesn't get the messages.

There is a 'special' meeting this Thursday. The meeting topic is to interview interim city administrators. A number of people have shown interest in helping us out. You may want to go to this because if this person works out, and is interested, the council may just hire them. With no formal job announcement. What a gift – a government position being filled, and they never even posted it was available. What an awesome town we live in.

DebbieSeesIt again. Turns out, Al LeMay (treasurer of the recall, republican representative, petitioner for the water referendum) used a Washington drivers license to register to vote in Oregon. Wonder if he is registered to vote in Washington, too? Trevor Higby gets caught with his intolerance down again. Read more under Debbie's link at the site.

And, finally, I have a concern to share with you. When we originally started putting the information together regarding a creep with the screen name of Franz Truper, it was just to find out who the coward was. But, in the last two days, this person has been sending me some really weird stuff. Turns out, they followed me to work. So, if after reading what we already posted, and you want to see the rest of the disturbing items, please let me know and I will forward to you. Once I explained to them that we were comparing IP addresses from other emails to theirs, they suddenly deleted their account. Hmmm.

Well, that's about it.

Have a great weekend – enjoy the awesome weather. And, regardless of what you are told, water is always a resource to be respected.

Angela Flood

www.lafayetteoregon.org


It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends. - JK Rowling

An interesting revelation came upon us today. I had posted a message on newlafayette.org in response to Cindy Buell's posting on the recall mess. The first message was allowed by Mary Heisler's web system. I posted an additional comment, and it seemed that, as well, was posted. From my computer. But, when I went to show Darrell on his computer, the message wasn't there. So, I posted a message from his computer. It showed as being there. But, when I went back to my computer, it wasn't. So we did some other testing of the security.

Mary Heisler has had her website encoded with a cookie system that captures the IP address and stores that information on your computer for her use. Marketing companies do that so they know who is shopping for what. Some cookies can be valuable, especially if you have set up a web site to look the way you want it to. But, I'm not really sure what Mary's purpose is.

Mary Heisler's website stores cookies on your system so it looks like you made a post, but may not ever show up for anyone to view. So it looks like your post made the cut. But, if you check it from another system, it may not be there at all. You go on your merry way thinking that your voice is being heard, but instead has been shuttled into thin air.

These are the cookies Mary Heisler has had her website programmed to install on your system upon visiting her page:

utmz tracks where each user came from (search engine, search keyword, link)

utma tracks each user's amount of visits, first, last visit.

utmb and __utmc are used to track when each user's visit starts and ends

wordpress_test_cookie is used to track your postings (so you see them, but unless they have authorized the posting, no one else does).

PHPSESSID is used to identify a new session so she can tell when you are coming back again.

So, to continue with our mission that no one pays anything, anytime, for anything from us, Darrell is making an offer. Call him at 503-857-2555 with information regarding your operating system (Vista, XP, Windows 7, Ubuntu, etc.) and your browser software (Explorer, Firefox, etc.) and he will walk you through blocking this from happening to you. This is done at no charge. Your system can be setup to refuse cookies from Mary's website or any other website you choose to apply this to.

We are not asking you not to visit her site. We understand it can be quite addictive to see her thoughts and may find her information important. But, you should be able to do this completely confident that you are not giving her system capabilities you have not authorized. Normally, I don't mind cookies. But one that seems it offers you a viewing of information that does not really exist in order to pacify you and make you believe that your voice counts, and then collects information about you for a website that says it promotes transparency, that troubles me. I didn't check before this. Why would I think that a site that claims they work for advocacy would install this kind of software?

As a matter of information, we have tested several systems in several locations and are confident in the statement that our website does not deposit cookies, nor do we collect specific user information about your visits. We pull reports on how many visits we receive, what country the visits came from, and what pages are popular, but that is the limit of our reporting requirements. We don't need to know anything about your computer or your IP address to visit our site. And, I can't understand why Mary would either.

Thank you for your time. Please forward to anyone you think may be impacted by this or ask Mary (at the address in the CC box) why she would be doing this.

Angela Flood

Council Meeting 05/13/2010

6:30 pm

Lafayette City Hall

Another alert from Angela Flood. I'm sure you are way excited.

Just another meandering of information that I have culled from my observations and the council packet.

Important to note:

Right after the meeting begins and the additions and deletions are dealt with, the Council will be going into Executive Session. The stated purpose is to deal with a personnel issue. There is no time line stated for this, so be prepared to wait, or not. It could be five minutes; it could be 30 or more. But, from what I know on the topic, it seems to be a necessity. I don't know if they have their own list to hash out or they want to deal with all of the items that have come up. If the subject is Justin Boone, our City Administrator, then here is what I have observed:

The city budget process was almost a catastrophe. Mr. Boone had done so much cutting and pasting, he didn't even notice (or care) that he copied the same information from last year, including statements about budgeting for a city administrator search. But, then maybe he knew something we did not. He didn't notice that we paid a large bond off, so he was ready to pay it again. He didn't notice that the years of debt on the bonds and loans had actually been decreased by a year. He didn't know why he was budgeting most of the pockets, but when asked, he had the ready response of “Just in case”. This being the same expert who determined we needed yet another rate increase this year. Apparently, it was raised just in case.

He appears to have given non factual information for a city employee to pass onto a contractor.

He seems to have failed to inform our city attorney of all of the facts, on more than one occasion, regarding the parks contracts. So, decisions were made that didn't need to be and we could have been more creative with the dollars.

He has been downright rude to councilors in the city meetings.

He has ignored contact with citizens. In one case, it took the District Attorney getting involved before Mr. Boone would even respond.

These are just a handful. If I included them all, we could be here all night.

So, the council will start, then close the meeting, then re-open it. They may make a decision, they may not. But, you may never know what was discussed. Although, all of this could change should the employee decide to have the meeting in the public view. Some employees do that when they feel they are in the right and want everyone else to see what they are being 'accused' of.

After we get through the personnel issue, the reporting will begin. In the packet is a sheriff's report of ordinances that have been handled. There seems to be quite a few here, but if you look at the dates, you'll see it covers quite a time period.

According to the public works report, the Mayor's wife been keeping Mr. Anderson busy telling him what our down town should look like with the spring planting. I thought Mr. Anderson would be able to figure that out for himself.

There is no fire report included, so can't tell you what the fire department has been doing. But, they have been issuing checks to the volunteers, so there must be something going on. I guess we could see the number of the calls if those checks were included in the accounts payable report, but they aren't. The Mayor is supposed to sign those checks, according to the charter anyway, but apparently he's good with them signing their own.

The attorney bill shows we have been charged over $12,000.00 last month for their services. It keeps going up. Must be all those investigations against all those big, bad councilors. Too bad those instigating the charges couldn't focus on their jobs and let someone else handle creating the drama and animosity. One of my favorite expenses is the charge for someone asking the attorney's opinion if I am allowed to post city documents (ie: public records). We are already working on a story for a national website for that one. And, I've already heard from councilors who stated they didn't know anything about the issue until I asked them. Some still don't.

The fire department is looking to sell five radios they replaced with a matching funds grant. Kind of funny: if the radios worked, then why did we need to cough up the matching funds? Wouldn't that have been a useful grant for an agency that didn't already have radios? Also, they are looking to sell them to Carlton. Carlton: the same city that shares our fire chief – Terry Lucich. The same chief who said we needed new radios. I'm terribly confused on this one.

There are contracts to be awarded, ordinances to be approved, policies to be reviewed. A good time for all, I am sure. There will also be some closing the barn door items, too. Such as – creating a PTO policy for employees who go negative – which, according to another website, our new city administrator managed to do within just a couple months of being here. We never needed the policy before, because it had never happened. Who would think that someone would go negative after such a short period? Oh well, such is life.

Then, another executive session. This one to talk about pending or current litigation. Someone is being or will be getting sued. Could be the sewer contract. Could be another of the Mayor's accusations of council breaking the law.

As a side note to that, apparently, the Mayor has sent out a very odd email with his own 'newsletter'. He sends out his own, it seems, because he appears not to consider himself a council member, as there is already a council newsletter. Mayor Heisler made a variety of statements regarding the council and has taken a stance on the pending recall activity. I have asked him to prove those statements, but since Darrell is still waiting for a call back from him from over a year ago, I don't think I will hear anything. He also said he doesn't think he can get along with the council as it now stands. Must be why he wants to see his own councilors put in the seats instead of the ones we elected. To be sure, he has distributed a newsletter that I wouldn't have. I mean, I have a pretty firm policy about not printing things I can't prove. But, he feels very bold this week. And, he seems to have a good attorney.

Oh wait – it's our attorney.

And he's not paying the bill.

We are.

I guess all we can hope for is for him to let Councilor Harper ask the questions she wants to instead of shaking his head 'no' at her. I noticed he doesn't do that to anyone else. Guess its time to update the meeting etiquette at our site. She finally got bold enough to ask a straight out question, and now she's not allowed to.

Well, hope to see you there.

Lafayette City Hall

This Thursday, May 13, 2010

6:30 pm

If you can't make it, let me know and I will provide you with a recording of the meeting – at no charge.

As usual, you have been bcc'd with the council address included. If you wish to be added directly from receiving this as a forward, let me know. If you wish to be removed, please also advise.


When public men indulge themselves in abuse, when they deny others a fair trial, when they resort to innuendo and insinuation, to libel, scandal, and suspicion, then our democratic society is outraged, and democracy is baffled.

J. William Fulbright

Emailed on April 11, 2010

Open Letter To Trevor Higby

After hearing of the recall at the council meeting and reading the News Register story of April 10, 2010, I have some concerns I would like to address to you. While I am unable to comment on the filings in whole until they are public record, I would like to address statements from the article and meeting.

While I certainly believe in the freedom of action of any elector to take part in the process, I also believe that tax dollars should be used in a responsible way. While I personally do not believe in the recall process, except in extreme cases, I do expect if one were to undertake this task, one would do so only as a last resort. Can you tell me what other avenues you have pursued to resolve the issues you have encountered with these council members?

The news story reports that you have accused Councilor Rhodes of harassment of the city administrator. Harassment of a public official can be a crime. Are you able to prove this? Keeping in mind that any elector may file the statements made with the Secretary of States office and request that you are able to prove all statements made, are you prepared to do this? And, as penalties for election violations can go up to $125,000.00, I certainly would assume you are prepared to defend those statements.

Liable (Corrected to read Libel) is also a very serious action. And certainly could be quite profitable to anyone inclined to go that route. The defaming of a public official, while historically has been tolerated, is now being litigated with precedence.

The Free Dictionary online defines tyranny as:

A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.

We have a council of seven members, six of which may vote. You have chosen to recall two of those members using inciteful words. One of my personal rules of writing relevant information is the avoidance of extraneous adjectives. They are opinion and conjecture by nature, and are usually not provable in a court of law.

As a couple of observations of my own:

You have chosen to recall two people who were supportive of Nick Harris as the Budget Chair. Nick was primarily chosen over you, I believe, because he was able to make a commitment of attending all the meetings of the budget committee, while you stated you were not able to make that commitment. Had anyone known this would then become a matter of recall of supporters of Councilor Harris' appointment, I am sure several might have acquiesced and voted in your favor.

You have made several statements regarding conduct you seem willing to attest to. But, your meeting attendance is sporadic at best. I have questions as to where you have acquired your information. You must feel very strongly to have gone to such lengths and to be so vehement in your statements. Did you acquire the information from reading the minutes? Public record of conversations regarding Councilor Rhodes contact with staff had really only become an issue Thursday evening, after you filed the petition. So, were you privy to information from another source prior to that time?

Recently, you accused me of violating your privacy by contacting you through an email address you had released only to the Mayor. You advised if I did not tell you where I got the email address forthwith, your attorney would be in contact with me to demand the information. Once I told you I received it from the flyer regarding the Mayor's Committees, I could hear echoes of Emily Latilla saying “Nevermind”. That entire episode seemed reactive to me. So, it appears from my standpoint, as a taxpayer in all of this – I would really like to know – are you working in your interest or ours?

I encourage you to review your motives. If you feel they truly are in the best interest of all citizens, then I offer an alternative. Run for Council next November. There will be several seats coming up for election. Certainly I would welcome the opportunity to offer you a greater understanding of what it means to serve.

In addition to this email, I am posting this as an open letter to you at www.lafayetteoregon.org. Any responses you are able to provide will be posted there are well, as we will be following this matter closely.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing your responses to my questions. If you are able to provide factual documentation regarding the crimes you are accusing the two members of the council of, I will certainly be one of the first in line to sign the petition and put the matter in front of voters. But, if you are unable to provide that documentation, I believe it would then be a matter for the Secretary of State.


Angela Flood

Public Comment at April 8, 2010 Council Meeting

Based on the agenda, I was under the impression the council was to address the issues they have regarding the performance of the city administrator.

I have several issues with Mr. Boone’s performance that I would like to see addressed.

I believe, as we have several thousand dollars invested in him, we need to address these issues before it costs the city even more money. He also may be unaware of his impact on others. It is common, in the business environment, to provide feedback to employees prior to an annual assessment.

Last week, I submitted a request for accessibility for the budget meeting. My request was for me to able to see the faces of each of the participants.

I could have asked for a court reporter and the use of a teleprompter, with a cost to the city. I did not. What I requested was of no monetary cost to the city.

Under the ADA Act, Class II, the city has a responsibility to provide access compliance. The city administrator did not comply with the request and the appropriate agencies have been notified. Mr. Boone failed to respond in any fashion. So, this will be the second year I have made a request for accessibility and it has gone ignored. I have been denied the right to fully participate in the budget meeting process in an independent form. There were many conversations I could not understand. At one point, another member of the public had to tell me what had been said.

There is training available from various programs to educate staff regarding accessibility responsibilities. Before even going forward with that, I believe the council needs to have a conversation as to whether Mr. Boone’s contract should even be considered valid.

During the parks bidding process, Mr. Boone had several bids excluded as the responses did not include license information. Each submittal contained the state licensing information, as is required by Oregon law. This license number is used to access all insurance, bond and administrative action information. We now have one of the contractors who has filed an appeal based on information he was given at city hall that seems to be in contrast with the truth.

Recently, Mr. Boone had placed a bid announcement for playground equipment. The next printing had a correction filed because the bid information was incomplete. How much money is being spent to keep making these corrections?

I am not sure if he is not competent in the bid process or just lacks the required need for attention to detail. But, again, additional training seems to be in order.

Lastly, a public meeting notice was placed regarding the public input portion for the Revenue Sharing at the budget meeting. This usually takes place at the second budget meeting, after everyone has had an opportunity to review the proposed budget. But, it was scheduled for April 6th. This information was not placed on the agenda. So, again, I have to wonder if it was a mistake in the information provided to the newspaper. Because it was not listed as an agenda item, the Chair was unaware the hearing was to happen and the meeting almost dismissed without it. It appears that not even the meeting secretary was aware of the hearing.

Mr. Boone has a responsibility to inform the council regarding legal issues and errors he makes. I do not believe he has done this because given the number of business professionals on the council, I cannot see how these actions would have been encouraged or allowed to continue.

At this point, from my perspective, the contract could be terminated for cause. Maybe that is a conversation the council needs to have. Then, if you choose to keep Mr. Boone on board, the contract would be redone to account for the vast training that apparently needs to be provided so he may be an asset to the City of Lafayette. As it stands now, with his apparent lack of knowledge to complete his required duties, he can only be a liability.

Angela Flood

Mayor Heisler uses Citizen Funds to Slam Lafayette City Councilors
 

Now, while no one will call me Bob Cullen's cheerleader, personal vendettas should not be settled with citizen money.

May, 2010 will be three years since Chris Heisler's Town Hall. He collected funds from anyone able to put their hand in their pocket. Most of these funds have not been accounted for. But, according to Chris' wife, Mary Heisler in various emails, citizen funds were used to create and sustain NewLafayette.org website.

During the last few days, the NewLafayette.org website has posted numerous teaser items claiming councilors are breaking the law. Mayor Heisler managed to rack up about $1,000.00 in three days on the city attorney, getting information to attack team members. Since the City Admin and the Mayor are the only persons authorized to contact the city attorney, no other councilor may use this venue to receive legal advice when the Mayor violates the same laws he accuses others of breaking. No one to advise when the Mayor falsifies public records or violates meeting law.

Who knew that we would trade the previous administrator's sense of terrorism against citizens and using tax dollars for a Mayor with the same ego trip? Different name, different voice – SAME EXACT METHODS AND WORDS. Some conversations could be matched up like a game of concentration.

It will be interesting to see if he is able to remove any councilor from their seat. Correction of a meeting law violation only means the meeting is undone – kind of a fruit of the poison tree thing. But, if he is successful, after thousands more dollars to be spent, who will he replace them with? Will it be another Morgan's Vineyard resident, vocal about squashing non MV residents and razing their homes? Only time will tell.

More to follow. If this goes to court, we will be following closely. My thought: I think this will turn into a battle of funds – Mayor Heisler's (ours, that is – certainly not his own) and those that don't have it.

Remember the good old days when men would just duke it out. Didn't cost us a dime. Come on, Chris, can't we all just get along?

Angela Flood

Okay. I'm done with my break.

You know. A wise person said to me, several times in fact, get out before it kills you.

I think I will take that advice for a while. Over the last few days, I have had the ugliest words spewed at me from the mouths of people I respected at one time. I have seen behavior come that just made me want say – get a grip.

Then I realized, I need to get a grip. It occurred to me when Darrell and I were talking about the upcoming city council meeting. And, then it dawned on me. That's our 26 year anniversary. Marriage, that is. Not fighting the city. I guess I just decided I am tired of watching people get ignored at every pass. And, I was starting to get angry. Angry is not a world I want to live in. I'd rather live with Hungry. The character from Weight Watchers. He's cute and cuddly.

Darrell had the greatest statement last night. He said, “you know. Citizens didn't vote for me as Mayor. They voted against Don Leard. They didn't know who the hell I was. They just knew they didn't want him anymore.” That's a true statement. It goes for everyone at the council. Most people didn't vote for you. They just voted against the others. That's why Michael won by default. Had there been another choice, that new person would be there. And, with the way are things going here, in a few months and years, there will be new faces, if they choose to run. So, before everyone keeps running to start talking about how you have all this citizen support, remember – they didn't vote for you. They voted against Don.

I have plans to expand what I have learned here to apply to more positive situations. Like, I learned that even though Chris Heisler (and wife, Mary, the treasurer of his campaign) never entered any transactions in their ORESTAR report, as required by law,- and didn't close it, there is nothing the state will do. If a complaint is made more than 90 days after the close of the election, no action will be taken. So, I learned that sometimes people get to do whatever they want, even if its outside the law, and there is no one that will stop them.

Despite the snarky comments, several people have told me I write well and make them think about things. That's about all I can ask for. So, I will be continuing my writing, for a bigger cause. And I will volunteering for an organization that provides small grants to people in our community to help them pay things like their water bill. Do you know the city shuts off about 8 – 12 people a month? I find that unacceptable. But, since the city intends on collecting, I guess I will have to help find money to fund their needs. Isn't it sad that in order to afford basic services, there are people who just assume you should get charity? How about realistic pricing? Wouldn't that be even better?

Darrell and I will be working on the house and polishing the deck. Come summer, we will have a BBQ for anyone interested in joining us for a good time. Since the Mayor's wife likes to point out that we don't have any supporters, it may be a quiet time. That's okay, too. More food for us. If you would like to get an invite when we are ready, let me know and I will send you more information.

I'm thinking of installing a lawn in the front of the house. And maybe we will pressure wash and paint this year. Of course, only on the days I will be allowed to. Darrell is still planning on attending meetings. He won't be there in Feb, though. That's our day.

And, then, the councilors who give me information to 'research' to distract me can get back to business. Quit bitching at each other and start solving some problems. Stop having meetings in secret. All of you.

A perk of living here? I can go a whole month without durable cleaning on any surface that the water touches. Because the chlorine level is so high, I never have mildew issues. Isn't that amazing?

If you are planning a move to this town, I have to ask – WHY? The cost of living increases so much, not just the really, really high water / sewer rates. But, you have the added expense of the filter systems that must be put in place – either a whole house one or at each source. If you don't, your health will suffer.

The page will stay up. This information will sit here for a couple weeks and then move to archives. We track our usage. We receive between 300 and 500 hits a day. A day! That's pretty good. So, we must be helping some people. We also are leaving it up because we find it hilarious that several state agencies list us as the contact website for the city.

If you have information on our site that we post for you, let us know if you want any changes made.

I would like to thank our supporters (do we have any?) that have always had words of encouragement, donated supplies and energy and just let us vent. We do appreciate your help. And, we aren't going away. We are just working our way up the food chain. Remember, you can change the people all you want; but, if you don't change the rules, things don't change.

If you have any additional thoughts of violence, threatening behavior or just need to hurl some more obscenities and insults, feel free to go to www.getrichfrompublicoffice.com and leave them there. I'm really not interested in listening to it. And, frankly, I've been called worse by better. It just goes to show it doesn't matter how much money you have or how well you appear to live – Money can't buy you class.

For those of you still interested in pursuing matters with the city, and expect to get some forward movement, I have one thing to say:

Good Luck and God Speed and give us a call.

Angela Flood

Lafayette City Council Meeting Highlights 11/18/2009

All members of the council were present. Staff member Diane Rinks was there. There were about 13 audience members as well.

Mayor Heisler opened the meeting. He then began discussing background information advising of the status of the process of hiring of the new administrator, D Justin Boone. After he was caught up, he then proceeded to begin reading a series of emails that had been going between council over the last few days. Although there was nothing especially potent in what he read, you got the feeling he was leaving out the most damaging remarks. I think this because several councilors began squirming in their seats, not sure what he was going to say. I don't know what the concern is, all their emails, even between each other, are public record.

The meeting had been called at the request of Councilor Dean Rhodes. Mayor Heisler tried to turn the reins over to him so that he would have the chance to voice his concerns. Dean wasn't having that. He then turned things over to his expert, Diane Rinks.

Diane advised after reviewing the contract (that had already been received and preliminarily approved by Mr. Boone), she had some concerns. Concerns that the attorney didn't seem to have a problem with. So, she revamped several parts of it. She then began her usual tirade, in that voice she uses to explain to the councilors how truly stupid everyone else is.

The council then began going over each change to decide if it stayed or went. The one change most important to you? Diane and Councilor Rhodes wanted to offer 240 hours of PTO, not the 120 that Mr. Boone agreed to. The compromise? 160 hours a year of PTO. There were a few other minor changes. Now, the contract goes back to the attorney for review. If they approve, then it goes back to Mr. Boone for his re-approval and signature. Whew! It's almost over.

Some other interesting points regarding our new City Administrator. Mr. Justin Boone comes from Burns. He used to be the City Manager there. For personal reasons, he resigned. He then began to work at the boy's school in Burns, owned by a member of the Burns City Council. He has a wife, 1 child, with a baby expected in December. His start date is 1/4/2010 if he agrees to the changes. He has already secured housing in Lafayette. So, he gets to drink our water and pay the bill too. Hopefully, someone will tell him to install a water filter system.

We will be paying him $68,000.00 a year, with a 3-1/2% pay increase each year upon a favorable review. The contract has a two year term limit, but this one will go to July, 2012 to compensate for the mid year hiring. All the usual government bennies are included.

My personal observation: This council has chosen to handle this entire process with the same secrecy that Diane was hired in. It created a huge amount of distrust then, and Diane's attitude continued that feeling. Hopefully, with a large change in the way information is made available in the future, there will not be a repeat in that history. Although, if things continue as they have been, I see no hope of success for our new administrator if he succumbs to, and our councilors continue, business as usual.

On a bigger picture note: Councilor Nick Harris has promised to contact us immediately in the future when meetings are called so we can notify people. He has also promised us a copy of the revised contract if he receives it. Let's hope that pans out. It would be huge step in the direction of the mission. The copy of the contract we got last night, and the city did make the old one available for all, will be at our website by the end of the weekend.

We are in the process of uploading the videos of the meetings to the website and hope to have these available soon. If you would like it in DVD format, at no charge, please let me know and we will get it to you. Sometimes the sound quality isn't that great, but we keep trying. As soon as we win that lottery prize, we will have it all at top quality.

As usual, you have been BCC'd on this message. If you no longer wish to receive mailings, please let me know and I will remove you. If you have received this through a forward, and want to receive it directly, please let me know and I will add you.

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it. 

~David Star Jordan, The Philosophy of Despair

Angela Flood

angela.flood@gmail.com

www.lafayetteoregon.org

Emailed on November 17,2009

SPECIAL MEETING OF

LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL

NOVEMBER 18, 2009 6:00 P.M.