Councilman at-large Tim Larkin spoke out at today’s council meeting, chastising Councilman Jeff Darby for remarks he made two weeks ago saying that the Mayor had misled the council.
The official minutes of the meeting reflect that “Mr. Darby read a personal statement concerning the City’s budget.”
That is an understatement. What Councilman Darby said was “I have been deceived”. According to Larkin, Darby accused the mayor of criminal behavior and said that he should be punished as a criminal. None of that was reported in the media, that I’m aware of.
Darby also said that he would vote against the cuts to the police and fire departments.
Larkin also said, speaking of the rules of order of the council, that “we should discipline ourselves rigidly”.
The council members did seem to exercise that rigid discipline in the election earlier this year, when none of them spoke out to warn the people of the disastrous direction in which the city’s finances were headed.
They still don’t get it. People are not only upset at the idea of so many city employees are in danger of being laid of, they are highly upset that this was sprung on them at the last minute. The mayor and council have known for some time that revenues were not keeping up with expenditures, and did nothing at all to address the problem. The council has been aware for the last two years, as they (with the exception of Don Williams) voted surplus funds to continue city operations.
Why did they not impose hiring freezes two years ago? A year ago?
Whey did they not implement money saving measures in other ways?
Make no mistake, people are angry. The recurring theme during the aftermath of the terrible storms last weekend was “Thank God they are still here”. When disasters happen, people don’t look to the mayor or the council for help – they look to the first responders, the firemen and policemen. These people worked around the clock dealing with the problems, and appreciate the support of the people they serve.
Next week the council will have to listen to some citizens regarding the cuts. They will allow equal time for people in favor of the cuts and for people opposed.
Wonder how many takers they will get in favor of the cuts?
Video compliments of Bossier City attorney Samantha McAllister.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
18 comments:
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I CANT WAIT until the next election! Their asses are gone! I will not forget and will make it my personal mission that no one else does either! Enjoy your power trip boys...your days are numbered!
ReplyDeleteThey really don't realize how foolish they look.
ReplyDelete3 years is a long time from now... No matter what they come up with (layoffs or no layoffs) we cannot let the citizens of Bossier City forget what this City administration has done. They ALL have to go.
ReplyDeleteTo whom ever posted at 7:42
ReplyDeleteYou stole my thought!
We can start a group for that mission.
Thanks for posting my video! I love Youtube! AND, I would love to get an interview for Youtube. Just sayin'. :)
ReplyDeleteGet any of them to interview, we'll put it up!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going to try! I'm no politician, but I think if I were, I would try to speak to a wide audience, the media, press and the youth on the Internet, who will vote in the next election. It's easy to sit on the council and read a statement (with no questions allowed), but it takes a lot of guts to answer questions from the people and the media.
ReplyDeleteJust my opinion. :)
None of you know what the hell your talking about. Everyone was happy with the way the council ran things for the past few years. Taxes low, services great. No one even questioned why. Water, sewers, roads, police, fire, and the other services cost money. Where the hell do you think that money comes from.
ReplyDeleteEveryone was happy because everyone was being lied too.
ReplyDeleteThere were no lies. People did't care. Had they taken an interest in city business they would have known what was going on. Those who took an interest knew.
ReplyDeleteThey were lies of omission. People who have nothing to hide, hide nothing! Funny no one mentioned this when running for office or when doling out money to private businessmen! Or when raising the mayors pay or when continuing to hire for the city!!As for waiting there is ABSOLUTELY no reason we have to wait for the next election! RECALL!!
ReplyDeleteI would like to know why the people who took interest in city business did not tell others. You can post information online and with the news media anonymously.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was asked numerous times if he was committed to the police dept and the citizens of Bossier when applying for his job. Now he maybe laid off. I am not placing the blame on anyone, but someone know what was going on and did not fix the problem. That person should be held accountable.
I don't think it is right for you to blam the citizens for this problem. The people in office were elected to do a job. We should be able to expect them to do the job without being watched over. The reason everyone is in an uproar is because the truth has come to light. Now we know we have to check up on the people in power and make sure they are doing their jobs. This is a sad situation for everyone involved.
The council did make it known that surplus money, Ms Mcallister's phrase was being used and their intention to reduce its use. It has been reduced each year for the past two years. If anyone cares to look at the record. Also Mr. Williams no votes were only because he believed that the city had too many take home vehicles. Even if all were done away with the budget would still be short.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome to use my clown logo that I use for Alexandria's City Council for your fine group up there. :}
ReplyDeleteAlex
Sir, I might just take you up on that!
ReplyDeleteThe clown logo is a good idea!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but a couple of the councilmen are flat out RUDE. rules have to be flexible in serious siutations we might need to have exceptions when it comes to 3 for and 3 against! if the example of driving 70 or 55 mph made any sense then it applies here. rules change. we must be heard.
ReplyDeletenow all the people that had their homes protected need to show up at these meetings in support of the police and fire that is proposed to be cut. We have to get the word out...maybe Lamar billboards would advertise for us! we are getting 'big government' right here in our city.
Larkin I can't believe you said all that! besides that the mayor can speak for himself and I'm sure that Mr Darby and the mayor could have a decent discussion and they don't need you to be in the middle. you might be surprised but there is respect for Mr Darby that he did speak. open the floor for discussion on the budget that is effecting our City. you all have proven that you all didn't do very good by yourselves over the last few years. don't be to pround to ask for help.
ReplyDeletethank you Mr Darby