Open Letter To Elk Grove City Charter Commissioner Jake Allen
Dear Chair Allen: After the March 11 Elk Grove City Council meeting and your quarterly update, articles appeared in the Elk Grove Citizen ...
https://www.elkgrovenews.net/2009/03/open-letter-to-elk-grove-city-charter.html
Dear Chair Allen:
After the March 11 Elk Grove City Council meeting and your quarterly update, articles appeared in the Elk Grove Citizen and on the website Elk Grove News. With headlines as in the Citizen, “City council reins in charter commission,” along with sub-headline, “It’s spun out of control,” and EG News, “Scherman blasts Elk Grove Charter Commission: ‘You Guys Are Out of Control,’ " I have received so many emails and the response has been not been favorable.
In fact, it is so detrimental, not only are people who were going to attend the joint EGCC/Charter Commission Summit Meeting on March 24, not going to attend, they have now stated that they will vote no on the charter no matter what the city council does. Others have stated that they will be publicly and outwardly campaigning against the charter. Some have stated they were on the fence after their recent HOA meetings, but they are definitely decided, after the recent events that the charter, no matter in what form it is presented, must fail.
And worse, some have stated no wonder anyone gets involved in city government if the city council is going to “blast their own appointees.” And there have been other comments along those lines as well. Some have long memories when they state, “I thought the city council stopped this sort of thing after Mike Leary attacked Paul Lindsay. I guess it is business as usual and nothing has changed.”
And in light of the newest article published in the Public CEO Newsletter entitled, “John Danielson Public CEO Entrepreneur” that was disseminated this weekend, trust in our local government has taken a giant step backwards. When people finish a very long article that begins with a sub-heading, “John Danielson transforms a $140,000/year job offer into a $746,000/year gig as the City Manager of Elk Grove,” you know the rest of the article doesn’t fair well for the Elk Grove City Council and it doesn’t.
So many people whom we have always counted on to attend our EGCC Summit meetings have told me that they will not attend nor support the joint meeting on March 24 and will be denouncing the charter as a "smoke and mirrors document to fool the voters." (That one is particularly upsetting in light of the work that I have personally witnessed by this commission as one of a few who attend almost every meeting.)
Damage control needs to be done and done quickly. In all honesty, if the Elk Grove Community Connection had known that the city council was going to use such harsh words as, “You guys are out of control,” at an update that is less than two weeks before our joint summit meeting, and because of the negative press coverage that was sure to follow because of what transpired at the council meeting, we would have pushed the joint meeting back as to let some time pass and allow the Charter Commission to regroup. I know that some city council members object to our summit meetings and we cannot help but question the timing here in light of the fact that this meeting was the cover story in the City of Elk Grove's March City Newsletter.
As it stands, this is atypical of what I have received, “Connie, why in the hell are you letting your group, with its great reputation for community meetings, put on a meeting for a commission that is going nowhere.” I hope that isn't the case, but something needs to be done and it is up to this government to do it.
Sincerely,
Connie Conley, Founder
Elk Grove Community Connection
After the March 11 Elk Grove City Council meeting and your quarterly update, articles appeared in the Elk Grove Citizen and on the website Elk Grove News. With headlines as in the Citizen, “City council reins in charter commission,” along with sub-headline, “It’s spun out of control,” and EG News, “Scherman blasts Elk Grove Charter Commission: ‘You Guys Are Out of Control,’ " I have received so many emails and the response has been not been favorable.
In fact, it is so detrimental, not only are people who were going to attend the joint EGCC/Charter Commission Summit Meeting on March 24, not going to attend, they have now stated that they will vote no on the charter no matter what the city council does. Others have stated that they will be publicly and outwardly campaigning against the charter. Some have stated they were on the fence after their recent HOA meetings, but they are definitely decided, after the recent events that the charter, no matter in what form it is presented, must fail.
And worse, some have stated no wonder anyone gets involved in city government if the city council is going to “blast their own appointees.” And there have been other comments along those lines as well. Some have long memories when they state, “I thought the city council stopped this sort of thing after Mike Leary attacked Paul Lindsay. I guess it is business as usual and nothing has changed.”
And in light of the newest article published in the Public CEO Newsletter entitled, “John Danielson Public CEO Entrepreneur” that was disseminated this weekend, trust in our local government has taken a giant step backwards. When people finish a very long article that begins with a sub-heading, “John Danielson transforms a $140,000/year job offer into a $746,000/year gig as the City Manager of Elk Grove,” you know the rest of the article doesn’t fair well for the Elk Grove City Council and it doesn’t.
So many people whom we have always counted on to attend our EGCC Summit meetings have told me that they will not attend nor support the joint meeting on March 24 and will be denouncing the charter as a "smoke and mirrors document to fool the voters." (That one is particularly upsetting in light of the work that I have personally witnessed by this commission as one of a few who attend almost every meeting.)
Damage control needs to be done and done quickly. In all honesty, if the Elk Grove Community Connection had known that the city council was going to use such harsh words as, “You guys are out of control,” at an update that is less than two weeks before our joint summit meeting, and because of the negative press coverage that was sure to follow because of what transpired at the council meeting, we would have pushed the joint meeting back as to let some time pass and allow the Charter Commission to regroup. I know that some city council members object to our summit meetings and we cannot help but question the timing here in light of the fact that this meeting was the cover story in the City of Elk Grove's March City Newsletter.
As it stands, this is atypical of what I have received, “Connie, why in the hell are you letting your group, with its great reputation for community meetings, put on a meeting for a commission that is going nowhere.” I hope that isn't the case, but something needs to be done and it is up to this government to do it.
Sincerely,
Connie Conley, Founder
Elk Grove Community Connection
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