Public Perception

At Tuesday night's meeting some council members said the problem with the City Manager/Economic Development is "public perception." The mayor said that the public did not understand why the jobs were combined. Van Vleet said that some people mistakenly believe that Person receives two pay checks for the job. He went on to say that he always corrects this issue with any citizen he speaks with.

Later in the same meeting, when asked by local media, councilmen Van Vleet, Widerspoon and Filsinger each gave a different answer to why they seek to remove Person from his city manager duties. Those answers had nothing to do with public perception. Several people in attendance asked for clarification from these councilmen and none was given. I would have to say public perception is a problem. But not with the city manager, but with the councilmen themselves.

I understand why the job was combined but I also was in attendance back in 1999 when the discussion was had and the decision was made. Fiscal and financial decisions were made for very sound reasons. Current councilmen would like to undo this and create more expenses for the city, possibly resulting in higher taxes for us.

It's obvious from the comments that 3 of the council communicate about these matters outside of the meetings, maybe not all 3 at once, but their discussions and decisions are not taking place in an open environment where the public can have access to their reasons.

The purpose stated for the Nebraska Open Meetings act is "It is hereby declared to be the policy of this state that the formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret. Every meeting of a public body shall be open to the public in order that citizens may exercise their democratic privilege of attending and speaking at meetings of public bodies, except as otherwise provided by the Constitution of Nebraska, federal statutes, and the Open Meetings Act."

Even if they are careful never to be all 3 in the same place together, the simple fact that they are always in agreement, nearly always silent and the other 2 council members (Gaston and Hiett) are kept unaware of their plans is a violation of the open meeting law in spirit if not in a literal sense.

Even if you take into account the mayor's bumbling and poor grammar in his statement, his intention couldn't be more clear. The matter won't be brought up in an open meeting until after a discussion has already been held.