What We Need
This post is in response to a comment I received on a previous post.
The City does have access to extremely bright people in the construction, and any other, business. We get this experience from staff professionals, board appointees, paid consultants and interested citizens. Take for instance the recent irrigation changes that the City made in response to mandates from the State. The City received input from various stakeholders including TABA. In my opinion the feedback we got from TABA was of significant benefit to the discussion and resulted in a better ordinance. This is how the process should work. I agree that a construction professional on the Council can be a benefit because of their knowledge. However, this is no different to having any type of professional on the Council. I am certain that my business experience has been of benefit to the City in numerous instances. That being said I do not believe my, nor anybody else’s, experience is essential to being a good Councilman. I don’t, for one second, believe we need elected experts. I believe we desperately need elected, impartial, unbiased, independent, non-conflicted representatives.
Tags: City Charter, Conflict of Interest, Ethics