What Others Think

I hope to share as many voices on this blog as possible. Email your thoughts to me (kpickett22@yahoo.com). Here is a comment worth reading....

First let me say that I'm very disappointed with the workgroup session (on Jan. 14th) and what it was reduced to because of the tone set by Dan Albertson. This is not to point fingers, but rather to state a fact based upon his mandates to all of us at the beginning of the meeting. I believe our Council members suffer from confusion as to what is their responsibility and what belongs to the Mayor.

It was clear before the meeting even started that there was considerable friction between Councilman Albertson and the Mayor, which then carried over to us by Councilman Albertson lecturing us as if we were bad students and the principal needed to punish us. That’s my personal take on how the meeting opened, which then lead to further deterioration and a newly elected council person walking out in a snit making a snide comment. I don't think that's why he was elected to office and certainly didn't run his campaign on this basis.

In addition to setting the tone for the meeting, I was further disappointed by the format of the workgroup. I fully expected that we would have an informal workgroup, where attendees could sit in a circle (to facilitate communication among everyone) along with our town council and mayor to review the fire committee report.

The report completed by the fire committee has been distributed and presented several times already, yet we never seem to come to any resolution of the information presented. It appears that each time it comes up for discussion someone wants more information. What specifically is there left to report on? The report is very comprehensive, and we have to recognize that the town council does not have the medical background or expertise to make independent decisions that affect the residents of our town . While there obviously is an agenda shared by a few council members, the town as a majority has made its wishes known and very clear: Keep Ruston and the Ruston Fire Department.

To me the issue is pretty simple. Has Ruston had a catastrophe in the past few years that we haven't addressed? Are there concerns for the near future that our fire department and the report from the fire committee didn't address, and if so, what are they? Who is dissatisfied with the current level of service, and what specifically are they dissatisfied with? Let’s deal with realities not innuendos, lies and rumors. This is our town and our fire department. We should be able to discuss concerns without having our council members go behind our backs and meet with the City of Tacoma to forge a contract that the majority of us don’t want.

I believe it’s time for us to call for a vote to affirm our fire department, put the nonsense with Tacoma to bed, and get on with the issues that require our immediate attention. Having said this, these are my concerns. Our Council keeps spending our money frivolously while at the same time professing to be financially responsible and frugal. I believe Councilman Albertson was adamant while campaigning for office that the money should not be touched! However, we keep spending this money and soon Ruston won’t be financially viable, causing bankruptcy and annexation to Tacoma. All this after several of these council members pledged otherwise.

While I firmly believe the Ruston Fire Department is a non-issue and should be put to rest with a straight up vote, there are other issues that I believe require our immediate attention and yet no one to date has presented a clear statement that outlines the vision for Ruston within the next year and into the next 5 and10 years. We haven’t established any goals for the next year, and we still don't have a road map of how to get anywhere because we don't have a strategic plan. How are we going to approach the issues facing our community and prioritize the issues facing our community? Which items do we address first? We know our infrastructure is crumbling, we know we need some new/used fire equipment, expand personnel, etc, but no one has articulated a plan to address anything. We keep reacting to fires, and that's not management.

Leadership and integrity is another issue I’m concerned with. We currently have only one Council member who operates from a position of integrity, honesty, and conducts himself with dignity and fairness. We may not be able to prove that the open meeting laws have been broken, or at least the spirit of the law broken, but it’s clear that discussions have taken place prior to the public meetings and agendas have been marked out. This is too small a community to be conducting town business behind closed doors. We expect better from our council. I would suggest that council members could take a few lessons from Councilman Hedrick and be forthright in conducting town business.

I recognize that we won’t all see eye to eye on every issue and I don’t expect that we’re all going to get along all the time. What I do expect is that our council will listen to what we have to say since you work for all of us not just a few. I also expect that each of you will bring your skills and knowledge to the table, and recognize when you don’t have the expertise, and rely on those who do. Let’s deal with the big stuff and not sweat the small stuff. And lastly, this isn’t about the RC vs. the Ruston Blog. This is about our town and the issues that can no longer be ignored. We are your constituents and your first allegiance is to listen to us. Treat us respectfully, and we will do the same. These are our meetings: Not yours. Let’s stay focused on the issues and make this town proud of how we deal with issues and set an example for others to follow.

Karen King