I saw something happen at Tuesdays meeting that I've never seen before. I saw the Beautification Committee give a report on their actions and some of the things they are planning.
Now I'm going to be honest with you until the budgeting process this year I didn't even know we had a Beautification Committee. As a matter of fact, I found out we had a list of committees that I learned about during the budgeting process. It was a bit mind boggling to me, because in my entire time going to city council meetings the only time I've ever heard from any committee was when they needed to appoint additional people to their committees.
So I'm a bit perplexed. In every other situation, and according to Roberts Rules of Order (one of our governing documents), committees are to regularly report back to the council. Why? So that the managing body (read city council) is informed and knows what is going on.
Over the last year or so I've heard several times that "our councilmen never come to our meetings". It's not their job! Their job is to have the reports of committees come to them. Committees are created to hash out issues, to create solutions to problems that the city council doesn't have time themselves to do. It does not relinquish final authority/responsibility by creating committees. It's still all falls back on the city council.
I want to quote from Roberts Rules of Order - "Generally the term committee implies that, within the area of its assigned responsibilities, the committee has less authority to act independently for the society (or other constituting power (read city council here)) than a board is usually understood to have. Thus, if the committee is to do more than report its empowered to act for the society only on specific instructions; or, if it is given standing powers, its actions may be more closely subject to review than a board's, or it may be required to report more fully." (9th Edition, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised)
So in all the years of going to council I have to ask myself, "Where the heck is the reporting to the council?" Why do these committees expect the councilmen to come to them, when it's their obligations to report back to the council?
This last Tuesday Mr. Burchard did a great job of reporting to the council. He gave a listing of what is in the works, what are on the "we'd like to do" list, and even some long term planning. The council has now been informed as to what the Beautification Committee is up to.
I would love to hear from all these other committees too. Wouldn't they want the council to know that 1) they really are working on things for the City of Gonzales 2) that the direction they are taking is one that the council is wanting to go in so that their work doesn't get yanked after a lot of sweat and blood has been put into it.
Last I have is that while there is probably (though I'm not 100% certain) that most of these committees do not have to have the 3 day written notification of agendas and such that some do (like the council, GEDC, Zoning), it sure would be nice if they posted on the city website that a meeting is planned so that if someone wanted to present an idea to that committee it was available to them. I'm certain our city secretary could post in the agendas and announcements section of our website any upcoming meetings in a heart beat. I wouldn't have a clue how to present something to most of the committees, because I don't know who they are or when/where they meet.
Right now most people in Gonzales don't even know 1/2 the committees we have (btw, ALL committees are to be appointed by the city council per our city charter), much less their function or who is involved. I personally think it's time to give the recognition to the hard workers, their works, and to come together at our central governing body, our city council, to make sure we are all working together in a single direction, after all it's their job.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Showing posts with label Beautification Committee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beautification Committee. Show all posts
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Response on My Actions for the Proposed Veterans Memoral
For those who missed the city council meeting last Tuesday, there was an item about the proposed Veterans Memorial. After some heated debate the council had a motion on the table to "get together with all the organizations to town, and come back to us when everyone is in agreement". The motion was seconded and prior to the vote I stood up to comment.
This was the 2nd time that Mr. Mercer came up on this issue. He followed the directions that the council gave him last time, and expressed that he could not proceed until he knew where the proposed monument would be placed, as the next step is a costly step that requires exact land shaping to finish. So the a plan drawn up for the 1200 St. Lawrence wouldn't work a block over.
In the end Tommy Schrig withdrew his original motion, and remotioned to grant the Memorial the corner by the cannon on St. Lawrence.
Today I received the following comment on another section of my blog -
Anonymous said...
Dennis Quote - "We (our city) has to get back to basics! If we don't need it right now we can't afford it."
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for recognizing the Veteran's and the sacrifices they have made for us and our country, but why now? Who is going to pay for that and where is the money coming from? When we are so much in debt why are we approving to spend more money right now? And why you Dennis of all people were fighting for them to make a decision? You are the one constantly complaining about the spending and the budget. Also you are the one who stated previously that there needs to be more tabling of items on the city council agenda rather than making a quick un-informed decision thus costing more money. Why you of all people pushed the council to make a decision when they were going to table the motion?
In my opinion, you are going against several things that you have already stated you stand for. Why should we believe anything you have to say? It seems that you are only interested in your own agenda and if its beneficial to you to do so or try to make a name for yourself.
So I'd like to respond -
I will be writing more about the proposed Veterans Memorial at a later time, but you are right to ask, and I will explain.
First this Monument is NOT being built with ANY tax dollars. It's a private venture. I would NOT have supported it had it been in any way funded by the City of Gonzales. This is #1 in my books, and is the only way it should have been considered. If the VFW, AL and IOOF can not raise the funds to build this monument they have NO right to ask the city for ANY money (see my comment quoted above).
Second I saw a standoff happening. One side saying they couldn't move forward until they knew where they would would be allowed to put a monument, and the other saying they didn't want to approve the place till they pleased EVERYONE in the city and had final plans. Basically killing any possibility of a Veterans Memorial ever happening. Mr. Mercer had already said they could not proceed without knowing what plot of land the proposed monument would be built on. Part of the planning is making it work with the plot of land it's going on.
I had no intentions of speaking either way on the memorial until I felt like we got to this stalemate. Remember this motion had already been tabled once, and Mr. Mercer and his group did exactly what the city council asked of them. They met with the other concerned parties, and from everyone who I've spoken to at the meeting they left with the belief they had come to a agreement. It wasn't till the following day that there were more ruffles in the waters (this coming from our councilmen).
And what exactly did I ask for? I asked for the council to tell Mr. Mercer that yes he could plan to have that plot of land to start planning, or tell him no he couldn't. Either way it was movement. I also told the council that if they did approve it they needed to caveat it several ways that did not happen in the final motion. That if they told him no they needed to point him in the right directions to get their approval.
Since I'm on this topic I'm going to point out that once again our previous city manager Mr. Huseman is the center of this issue. He went, unauthorized, and requested something of the Beautification Committee (or at least members of it), and never EVER let anyone who did have that authority know anything about his plans. So in the mean time a great group of guys and gals have worked diligently to do as they were asked only to have the rug yanked out from under them. So when I mentioned lack of communications before, here we go paying the price for those actions, the very actions that got Mr. Huseman fired. I do hope that the council puts on the agenda the proposed trees, and get a plan for them too.
The only negative comments I've heard about the proposed memorial and this location, is that it conflicted with the historical trees that were also claiming that spot. Again, the council was unaware of this proposed plan, as it was NEVER brought to any council meeting, so they never approved it. It wasn't brought to their attention prior to the memorial proposal. Not one of the council members knew about any usage for the 1200 block prior to this incident.
And for the record, when Mr. Mercer approached Mr. Huseman 3 1/2 years ago, Mr. Huseman didn't say anything about that plot of land being used for anything else. No one but Mr. Huseman knows if which incident came first, and honestly at this point both groups have expended enough time and energy to be upset.
So no matter what someone was going to have their feelings hurt. There was no way to 'win' this without getting someone upset, without putting out some hard working citizen that is trying to do something to make our town better. NONE! When those times come it takes the city council to make a decision. It SUCKS but it's what they get paid for. Several of the council members even admitted to me after the meeting that they were hoping the someone else would be the bad guy for a change, but all of them I spoke with said ultimately they had no doubt that the selected location would have been approved for the proposed Veterans Memorial.
So I still stand by my stance that our council should NOT be spending money. I was actually proud of them Tuesday 1) for not spending 1 dime 2) When the opportunity was brought to them to spend some money at JB Wells (another topic I will be bringing back up soon) they passed with the comment that we need to budget for some of this next year. *standing and clapping*
So the reader is misinformed or is making presumptions about the memorial and my actions. They are presuming this is costing you and I as 'joe taxpayer' money. It's not.
They are assuming that the city cares where that money comes from, but since we're not paying for it, we don't.
They are assuming the council was uninformed, and I can honestly say the council knew everything they ever were going to know. Even the council members will tell you that.
Why force a decision? Because the 1) in this case they did the right thing by tabling the item the first time, but there was NO reason for them to table it a second time (not that an item can't be tabled 2, 3, 4, 100 times if necessary), the end results were going to be the same, and the only difference is that the bad blood was going to boil for longer 2) I felt "A" decision was in order, and I clearly gave them the option to discuss other locations for this monument (the whole conversation is taped for the record). Had they come back to table the motion to find a second location, I would of been in favor of that, 3) the motion made by Mr. Schrig, and the unrealistic demands place in that motion to table were insane, and absolutely unobtainable for Superman himself.
Why me? Because no one else was saying what needed to be said. Kind of like only 1 person in the entire town of Gonzales has spoken up at the public hearings for the property tax increase, that person was me. Not 1 other soul spoke up one way or the other. So the apathy shown there was also what was happening at this point in my opinion, and I heard about hurt feelings (and they had the right to be), I heard about needs, I heard whining, but I didn't hear anyone stepping up to get an honest resolution. So at absolutely the last moment I spoke up.
I also held no guns to any councilmen heads to get them to change any vote or motion, and trust me the council has shot me down previously and I'm certain will do it again in the future. If they truly felt the motion to table was correct after everything was said, they would of tabled it, regardless of what I said.
I'm hoping that this explanation will show that I've held true to my writings here at 90asign.com. As for 'making a name for myself', I'm afraid my name is made in Gonzales. For good or bad, it is. I gained nothing for speaking up, I lost nothing. I made some happy, I pissed some off. It's what comes with my name and my opinions.
As for my own agenda...if you're talking about keeping moving Gonzales into the 21st century....if you're talking about being fiscally responsible with taxpayers money....if you're talking about expecting accountability of our city employees and their usage of city money....if you're talking about exposing abuses within our city, then you're 100% right. If you're talking about Dennis Nesser received anything then let me assure you I received no money, no offer for any position, no 50 cent off coupon for a cup of coffee, not even a beer by Mr. Mercer himself. So you'd be wrong if you were heading down that line.
Whomever wrote this has obviously read enough of my writings to know what I believe in, and if they are truly honest with themselves after reading this they will know I'm right. It obviously this was something personal with the writer, and as I said, there is a whole group of people that got the short end of the stick on this deal, and have a right to take it personal. The problem was, SOMEONE was going to get that short end, there was no way around it. They are not the bad guys, quite the opposite. They are the people who put their heart and soul in their work (again as many of us do) that got wronged through no fault of their own. I truly hope when it's said and done that they too will get what is rightly due to them. That the council will work with them on their proposal so their hard work is not a waste of time just as they've done with Mr. Mercer on the Veterans Memorial.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Other topics I hope to write about soon -
JB Wells and the state of affairs
Committee and their obligations
What the Veterans Memorial is about
So come back soon and see what I've written.
This was the 2nd time that Mr. Mercer came up on this issue. He followed the directions that the council gave him last time, and expressed that he could not proceed until he knew where the proposed monument would be placed, as the next step is a costly step that requires exact land shaping to finish. So the a plan drawn up for the 1200 St. Lawrence wouldn't work a block over.
In the end Tommy Schrig withdrew his original motion, and remotioned to grant the Memorial the corner by the cannon on St. Lawrence.
Today I received the following comment on another section of my blog -
Anonymous said...
Dennis Quote - "We (our city) has to get back to basics! If we don't need it right now we can't afford it."
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for recognizing the Veteran's and the sacrifices they have made for us and our country, but why now? Who is going to pay for that and where is the money coming from? When we are so much in debt why are we approving to spend more money right now? And why you Dennis of all people were fighting for them to make a decision? You are the one constantly complaining about the spending and the budget. Also you are the one who stated previously that there needs to be more tabling of items on the city council agenda rather than making a quick un-informed decision thus costing more money. Why you of all people pushed the council to make a decision when they were going to table the motion?
In my opinion, you are going against several things that you have already stated you stand for. Why should we believe anything you have to say? It seems that you are only interested in your own agenda and if its beneficial to you to do so or try to make a name for yourself.
So I'd like to respond -
I will be writing more about the proposed Veterans Memorial at a later time, but you are right to ask, and I will explain.
First this Monument is NOT being built with ANY tax dollars. It's a private venture. I would NOT have supported it had it been in any way funded by the City of Gonzales. This is #1 in my books, and is the only way it should have been considered. If the VFW, AL and IOOF can not raise the funds to build this monument they have NO right to ask the city for ANY money (see my comment quoted above).
Second I saw a standoff happening. One side saying they couldn't move forward until they knew where they would would be allowed to put a monument, and the other saying they didn't want to approve the place till they pleased EVERYONE in the city and had final plans. Basically killing any possibility of a Veterans Memorial ever happening. Mr. Mercer had already said they could not proceed without knowing what plot of land the proposed monument would be built on. Part of the planning is making it work with the plot of land it's going on.
I had no intentions of speaking either way on the memorial until I felt like we got to this stalemate. Remember this motion had already been tabled once, and Mr. Mercer and his group did exactly what the city council asked of them. They met with the other concerned parties, and from everyone who I've spoken to at the meeting they left with the belief they had come to a agreement. It wasn't till the following day that there were more ruffles in the waters (this coming from our councilmen).
And what exactly did I ask for? I asked for the council to tell Mr. Mercer that yes he could plan to have that plot of land to start planning, or tell him no he couldn't. Either way it was movement. I also told the council that if they did approve it they needed to caveat it several ways that did not happen in the final motion. That if they told him no they needed to point him in the right directions to get their approval.
Since I'm on this topic I'm going to point out that once again our previous city manager Mr. Huseman is the center of this issue. He went, unauthorized, and requested something of the Beautification Committee (or at least members of it), and never EVER let anyone who did have that authority know anything about his plans. So in the mean time a great group of guys and gals have worked diligently to do as they were asked only to have the rug yanked out from under them. So when I mentioned lack of communications before, here we go paying the price for those actions, the very actions that got Mr. Huseman fired. I do hope that the council puts on the agenda the proposed trees, and get a plan for them too.
The only negative comments I've heard about the proposed memorial and this location, is that it conflicted with the historical trees that were also claiming that spot. Again, the council was unaware of this proposed plan, as it was NEVER brought to any council meeting, so they never approved it. It wasn't brought to their attention prior to the memorial proposal. Not one of the council members knew about any usage for the 1200 block prior to this incident.
And for the record, when Mr. Mercer approached Mr. Huseman 3 1/2 years ago, Mr. Huseman didn't say anything about that plot of land being used for anything else. No one but Mr. Huseman knows if which incident came first, and honestly at this point both groups have expended enough time and energy to be upset.
So no matter what someone was going to have their feelings hurt. There was no way to 'win' this without getting someone upset, without putting out some hard working citizen that is trying to do something to make our town better. NONE! When those times come it takes the city council to make a decision. It SUCKS but it's what they get paid for. Several of the council members even admitted to me after the meeting that they were hoping the someone else would be the bad guy for a change, but all of them I spoke with said ultimately they had no doubt that the selected location would have been approved for the proposed Veterans Memorial.
So I still stand by my stance that our council should NOT be spending money. I was actually proud of them Tuesday 1) for not spending 1 dime 2) When the opportunity was brought to them to spend some money at JB Wells (another topic I will be bringing back up soon) they passed with the comment that we need to budget for some of this next year. *standing and clapping*
So the reader is misinformed or is making presumptions about the memorial and my actions. They are presuming this is costing you and I as 'joe taxpayer' money. It's not.
They are assuming that the city cares where that money comes from, but since we're not paying for it, we don't.
They are assuming the council was uninformed, and I can honestly say the council knew everything they ever were going to know. Even the council members will tell you that.
Why force a decision? Because the 1) in this case they did the right thing by tabling the item the first time, but there was NO reason for them to table it a second time (not that an item can't be tabled 2, 3, 4, 100 times if necessary), the end results were going to be the same, and the only difference is that the bad blood was going to boil for longer 2) I felt "A" decision was in order, and I clearly gave them the option to discuss other locations for this monument (the whole conversation is taped for the record). Had they come back to table the motion to find a second location, I would of been in favor of that, 3) the motion made by Mr. Schrig, and the unrealistic demands place in that motion to table were insane, and absolutely unobtainable for Superman himself.
Why me? Because no one else was saying what needed to be said. Kind of like only 1 person in the entire town of Gonzales has spoken up at the public hearings for the property tax increase, that person was me. Not 1 other soul spoke up one way or the other. So the apathy shown there was also what was happening at this point in my opinion, and I heard about hurt feelings (and they had the right to be), I heard about needs, I heard whining, but I didn't hear anyone stepping up to get an honest resolution. So at absolutely the last moment I spoke up.
I also held no guns to any councilmen heads to get them to change any vote or motion, and trust me the council has shot me down previously and I'm certain will do it again in the future. If they truly felt the motion to table was correct after everything was said, they would of tabled it, regardless of what I said.
I'm hoping that this explanation will show that I've held true to my writings here at 90asign.com. As for 'making a name for myself', I'm afraid my name is made in Gonzales. For good or bad, it is. I gained nothing for speaking up, I lost nothing. I made some happy, I pissed some off. It's what comes with my name and my opinions.
As for my own agenda...if you're talking about keeping moving Gonzales into the 21st century....if you're talking about being fiscally responsible with taxpayers money....if you're talking about expecting accountability of our city employees and their usage of city money....if you're talking about exposing abuses within our city, then you're 100% right. If you're talking about Dennis Nesser received anything then let me assure you I received no money, no offer for any position, no 50 cent off coupon for a cup of coffee, not even a beer by Mr. Mercer himself. So you'd be wrong if you were heading down that line.
Whomever wrote this has obviously read enough of my writings to know what I believe in, and if they are truly honest with themselves after reading this they will know I'm right. It obviously this was something personal with the writer, and as I said, there is a whole group of people that got the short end of the stick on this deal, and have a right to take it personal. The problem was, SOMEONE was going to get that short end, there was no way around it. They are not the bad guys, quite the opposite. They are the people who put their heart and soul in their work (again as many of us do) that got wronged through no fault of their own. I truly hope when it's said and done that they too will get what is rightly due to them. That the council will work with them on their proposal so their hard work is not a waste of time just as they've done with Mr. Mercer on the Veterans Memorial.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Other topics I hope to write about soon -
JB Wells and the state of affairs
Committee and their obligations
What the Veterans Memorial is about
So come back soon and see what I've written.
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