Friday, April 20, 2007
Another Celebration of Life
See I told you all I wouldn't have time to write a blog post. Took my middle daughter to the hospital last night at 10:00pm. We now have a second grandson named Andrew Robert. He is a little one @ 5# 10 oz. & 19". That's two grandsons in four weeks!! OK girls, time to slow down a little. My wife is up a yonder on a cloud somewhere. Never seen her so happy. See ya all later.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Bash & Boom
I will not be attending the council meeting this week. I have the final organizational meeting for our car show this Thursday and I can't miss it. www.britishbash.com Check it out, we are raising money for St. Joseph's Children's Home www.sjkids.org May be I can work out a free pint for you bloggers that visit??
Also with time constraints on getting ready for all our friends and family coming in for Thunder it will be tough to get time to write anyway. Again if you come down look for us. We will be under double blue canopy in front of Colgate clock in the grass. Usually plenty of grub and adult beverages. Introduce yourself!!
Coop
Also with time constraints on getting ready for all our friends and family coming in for Thunder it will be tough to get time to write anyway. Again if you come down look for us. We will be under double blue canopy in front of Colgate clock in the grass. Usually plenty of grub and adult beverages. Introduce yourself!!
Coop
Council Code of Conduct??
Here is a letter my neighbor e-mailed to me in response to the March 7th council meeting. The letter is relevant to past and future meetings so please read it.
Hello, Blogmeister:Feel free to post this if you want. My other post didn't seem to "take"---probably an AOL thing or something. Recently, I attended my first City Council meeting and frankly wasn't sure if I'd made a wrong turn and landed on the set of the Jerry Springer show. Friends, Romans, New Albanians---here's the deal. If I were an industry rep thinking of relocating a major business to this city, and I happened to drop by the meeting I witnessed, I would frankly reconsider the move. (And, trust me, people who are considering doing significant business in a city DO sometimes check out things like how such basic governmental meetings function.) The chair certainly didn't have a handle on the meeting but those garden-variety citizens attending who didn't know how to behave were shameless and many in number. I was inspired to slush back to the office and write a proposed Code of Conduct for these meetings---a covenant of responsibility, if you will, for both the council and the council meeting attendees. I've passed it along to a couple of council folk already and suggested they might want to adopt some version of this. But, maybe we need a groundswell movement! I would simply say that, in my view, an open meeting like the council is in essence a front door to our community. We can choose, as citizens and as a council, what type of front door impression we want to present to the wider world. I just hope we'll all choose wisely and, when in doubt, default to professionalism.KC
CODE OF CONDUCT
NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
Thank you for attending this meeting of the New Albany City Council. As so to ensure that our meetings progress smoothly and professionally, we have adopted a meeting Code of Conduct. Your cooperation is appreciated.
As a council, we pledge to:
1. Start our meetings on time.
2. Stick to our pre-published agenda.
3. Follow Robert’s Rules of Order as our meeting protocol.
4. Provide some opportunity for guests to speak.
5. Address each other clearly so that we can be heard throughout the room.
6. Remain individually following meeting adjournment for a minimum for 15 minutes for additional comments and questions from individuals.
7. Provide e-mail addresses where we can be reached until the next scheduled meeting.
As for guests, we respectfully ask that you:
1. Enter and exit the council room quietly and unobtrusively, showing consideration to other guests who are already seated, as well as your council members.
2. Refrain from personal conversations or verbal outbursts while the council is in session.
3. Silence cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices and refrain from cell phone conversations while the council is in session.
4. Refrain from inappropriate dress, disrespectful signage, and other obtrusive visual forms of personal expression in the meeting room and hallway.
5. Not engage in conversations directly outside the meeting room that may interfere with council or guests’ ability to hear the meeting proceedings. Please take these conversations to the perpendicular hallway on the third floor or to the first floor building lobby.
6. Not encounter council members during their five-minute breaks.
7. Refrain from bringing food into the council meeting room.
8. Respect council members’ time prior to and immediately following the meeting.
9. If you wish to speak for up to five minutes, place your request on a note card (provided) and pass it to the chair who will recognize you at an appropriate time to come to the podium.
Thank you for helping our council to serve you better.
Hello, Blogmeister:Feel free to post this if you want. My other post didn't seem to "take"---probably an AOL thing or something. Recently, I attended my first City Council meeting and frankly wasn't sure if I'd made a wrong turn and landed on the set of the Jerry Springer show. Friends, Romans, New Albanians---here's the deal. If I were an industry rep thinking of relocating a major business to this city, and I happened to drop by the meeting I witnessed, I would frankly reconsider the move. (And, trust me, people who are considering doing significant business in a city DO sometimes check out things like how such basic governmental meetings function.) The chair certainly didn't have a handle on the meeting but those garden-variety citizens attending who didn't know how to behave were shameless and many in number. I was inspired to slush back to the office and write a proposed Code of Conduct for these meetings---a covenant of responsibility, if you will, for both the council and the council meeting attendees. I've passed it along to a couple of council folk already and suggested they might want to adopt some version of this. But, maybe we need a groundswell movement! I would simply say that, in my view, an open meeting like the council is in essence a front door to our community. We can choose, as citizens and as a council, what type of front door impression we want to present to the wider world. I just hope we'll all choose wisely and, when in doubt, default to professionalism.KC
CODE OF CONDUCT
NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
Thank you for attending this meeting of the New Albany City Council. As so to ensure that our meetings progress smoothly and professionally, we have adopted a meeting Code of Conduct. Your cooperation is appreciated.
As a council, we pledge to:
1. Start our meetings on time.
2. Stick to our pre-published agenda.
3. Follow Robert’s Rules of Order as our meeting protocol.
4. Provide some opportunity for guests to speak.
5. Address each other clearly so that we can be heard throughout the room.
6. Remain individually following meeting adjournment for a minimum for 15 minutes for additional comments and questions from individuals.
7. Provide e-mail addresses where we can be reached until the next scheduled meeting.
As for guests, we respectfully ask that you:
1. Enter and exit the council room quietly and unobtrusively, showing consideration to other guests who are already seated, as well as your council members.
2. Refrain from personal conversations or verbal outbursts while the council is in session.
3. Silence cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices and refrain from cell phone conversations while the council is in session.
4. Refrain from inappropriate dress, disrespectful signage, and other obtrusive visual forms of personal expression in the meeting room and hallway.
5. Not engage in conversations directly outside the meeting room that may interfere with council or guests’ ability to hear the meeting proceedings. Please take these conversations to the perpendicular hallway on the third floor or to the first floor building lobby.
6. Not encounter council members during their five-minute breaks.
7. Refrain from bringing food into the council meeting room.
8. Respect council members’ time prior to and immediately following the meeting.
9. If you wish to speak for up to five minutes, place your request on a note card (provided) and pass it to the chair who will recognize you at an appropriate time to come to the podium.
Thank you for helping our council to serve you better.
Monday, April 2, 2007
"Resolution passes" are you kidding me? Really? Are you sure?
Hallelujah, they passed something that wasn’t an appropriation or abatement. I had to restrain myself from waving my arms in the air and standing to cheer. Actually credit for my restraint should fall upon the shoulders of the “joy sucker” with the gavel. It was like he just knew something good was going to happen. His opening address ended with a command to all of us in the peanut gallery to be restrained and keep our mouths shut during the session. In all actuality I must confess that this meeting was a vast improvement on the president’s part to keep the session on topic and in control. There is obvious room for growth but the effort and improvement shall be duly noted.
The “resolution” that passed was to purchase the 5 new police cars of the 10 the chief needs and asked for. The condition of these cars is said to be so bad the maintenance spending has doubled and the officers and their seats are falling through the floors of the vehicles. Even after all the discussion on the issue Steve (Fred Flintstone) Price voted no for the new cars. If he was the only person making financial decisions for this city we would have to change the name to Bedrock.
Two different resolutions to find more street paving money failed with the help of the Mayor. Wait, I thought he was the one asking, wanting and in need of this money? I have never in my life known someone who ridicules, derides, mocks and chaffs a group of people moments before asking them for something. I have seen him do it on many occasions just this year. I actually believe the paving monies from EDIT Fund had a chance to pass until he spoke to council. (a personal side note to the Mayor. Pick a book title from the list below and I will buy you the book if you promise to read it.)
How to win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Magic of Getting What You Want by David Schwartz
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
How to Make a Habit of Succeeding by Mack Douglas
Caring Enough to Confront by David Augsburger
CM Coffey tabled his FD hiring ordinance to see if anything he likes comes out of committee for the next meeting. NOT going to happen. On a side bar to this issue CM Price warned that if nothing happens in committee he is going to make sure something happens at next council meeting!! You should have seen CM Messer laughing. I thought he was going to fall out of his chair!!
Crime is on the rise around S. Ellen Jones Park. I urge my readers not to frequent this area between the hours of 1- 4 a.m.
For those of you getting in some early spring swimming and fishing via your living rooms, the Storm Water Board meetings have changed for this month. They will be meeting on the 13th and 27th . Mr. Deatrick agreed to me to make the top 6 priority spots public but, didn’t say when or where he would do this. Now that the money is there to fix the top six, lets see what happens.
The “resolution” that passed was to purchase the 5 new police cars of the 10 the chief needs and asked for. The condition of these cars is said to be so bad the maintenance spending has doubled and the officers and their seats are falling through the floors of the vehicles. Even after all the discussion on the issue Steve (Fred Flintstone) Price voted no for the new cars. If he was the only person making financial decisions for this city we would have to change the name to Bedrock.
Two different resolutions to find more street paving money failed with the help of the Mayor. Wait, I thought he was the one asking, wanting and in need of this money? I have never in my life known someone who ridicules, derides, mocks and chaffs a group of people moments before asking them for something. I have seen him do it on many occasions just this year. I actually believe the paving monies from EDIT Fund had a chance to pass until he spoke to council. (a personal side note to the Mayor. Pick a book title from the list below and I will buy you the book if you promise to read it.)
How to win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Magic of Getting What You Want by David Schwartz
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
How to Make a Habit of Succeeding by Mack Douglas
Caring Enough to Confront by David Augsburger
CM Coffey tabled his FD hiring ordinance to see if anything he likes comes out of committee for the next meeting. NOT going to happen. On a side bar to this issue CM Price warned that if nothing happens in committee he is going to make sure something happens at next council meeting!! You should have seen CM Messer laughing. I thought he was going to fall out of his chair!!
Crime is on the rise around S. Ellen Jones Park. I urge my readers not to frequent this area between the hours of 1- 4 a.m.
For those of you getting in some early spring swimming and fishing via your living rooms, the Storm Water Board meetings have changed for this month. They will be meeting on the 13th and 27th . Mr. Deatrick agreed to me to make the top 6 priority spots public but, didn’t say when or where he would do this. Now that the money is there to fix the top six, lets see what happens.
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