That was a great showing of support at the meeting tonight!
This kind of civic participation keeps our elected officials honest and makes the message loud and clear, they can’t continue to do as they please, instead they must do their jobs as elected officials and make the best decisions for the community not the money!
Speaking of money, somehow the rich continue to get theirs! Ramos getting his money back is ridiculous and unfortunately has sent a message to anyone wising to sue the city…. all they have to do is sue, tie it up in litigation and wait for our incompetent city attorney to fold, and boom! You got your money back and probably your way with the city!
Isn’t our city attorney looked at as a subordinate? I hope there is review of George Logan with possible action on an agenda soon! He seems to be padding his retirement with the billing of the city for countless of useless hours he has spent to fold to Ramos! Ramos quoted it best, “if Logan’s opinion had been sought out before staff approved the move, the appeal and the coinciding legal fees would not have been necessary.”
Here is a good question, why would the city attorney just sit back and not give his opinion as our legal analyst, knowing that there may be possible law suits pending? Is it not his job to protect the city’s best interest, is he not the legal voice on the council? George Logan is a joke! I’ve said it once and will continue to say it!
He is reaping the benefits of siding with the Slate and their benefactors! Georgie needs to go! And one final note, is there any question how the vote went to pay Ramos?
Let’s have a replay: Councilwoman Smith- Pay Ramos, Councilman Fahrina- Pay Ramos, Councilwoman Shelton- Dont pay ramos, Councilman Cuellar- dont pay ramos, Mayor Campo- Pay Ramos…after the vote the slate cheers and Georgie Logan secretly does fist pumps under the table!
“Dem Crazy, We gonna kick dem crazy baldheads out of our town!” – Bob Marley
KEEP THE PRESSURE ON, MAKE OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS SERVE THE COMMUNITY NOT THE MONEY!
PTOWNMESSENGER
OldTimer said,
October 27, 2009 @ 2:13 PM
Well put!!!!
You have to wonder with the recent history of Ramos and some of the council-members if they aren’t on the take. The vote pretty much went along the lines of support for him.
Makes one wonder how much of that is their cut.
From now on, everything the council does will be viewed upon as how it benefits them and their backers, not how it benefits the city and the citizens as a whole.
It seems that if there isn’t a personal gain for them or their backers, it is a waste of their time. (See the lighted crosswalk at M & 33) (See the way the council is moving forward on the Wal-Mart, and we all know who gains there) (See the way the landlord is able to change the zoning laws on his own if he is paid big bucks from his tenant.) (See how the list just goes on and on and on?????)
Sounds like our current administration could teach Chicago a thing or two about politics.
As I peer in to my crystal ball, I am looking at when their time is done in their elected offices, I can clearly see that some of them are well off in the Patterson Villages, never having to work again.
With the council’s counsel taking care of them, there will never be any indication of a conflict of interest. Previous planning commissioners need not apply, since they do not have any active counsel.
Pops said,
October 27, 2009 @ 9:14 PM
Maybe their trip to Vegas was more of a learning experience than they let on.
I have an idea. Instead of the taxpayers of the city footing the bill (reimbursement to Ramos) for the incompetence of the planning commission’s attorney, why doesn’t he, the attorney, offer to pay it? Oh wait, that is the same attorney that sided with Ramos in argument to the city council.
It was a good game that Ramos played. He knew he had at least a couple of council members to help him stop the move. He pulled the lawyer trick to get a third to swing his way. Once he had the three, then he knew he could, at least with the council, stop the move so he could ask for more money. He also knew that with three votes for him, he could even ask for the reimbursement. And we, the taxpayers get to pay for it. What a great deal for him. You gotta hand it to him and his cronies, they know how to work the system. You may be right, maybe they can teach Chicago a thing or two. Just think, if Rod Blagojevich had this crew on his team, not only would he still be in office, but he would have a US Senator in his back pocket. Now that would have been a great deal.
OldTimer said,
October 28, 2009 @ 10:04 AM
You don’t really think that the city attorney, or anyone from the city (staff or council) would admit a ‘mea culpa’ and commit to paying the bill so the residents don’t have to do so, do you?
What we have here is a classic win-win-win-win-lose scenario. The wins go to:
. Ramos – he get’s his $27,000 back
. Ramos’ attorney – he gets to keep his $27,000 that Ramos paid him
. Logan – he get’s to keep everything the city paid him for the lack of work (deciding NOT to advise the planning commission) and then for the work he actually did
. Council members – you just know some of them actually benefited from this
The lone loss goes to:
. The residents of Patterson who get to foot the bill for all the winners.
There you have it in a nutshell.
The Patterson Irritator said,
October 28, 2009 @ 3:07 PM
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves oldtimer.
william johnston said,
October 30, 2009 @ 2:07 PM
This council has completely lost the confidence of staff and residents. Only in this City could a group of office holders get away with unnecessarily reimbursing the very person who helps fund their campaigns. I guess when the city attorney is along for the ride, no one is really left to check their actions. I thought the slate was really gracious by letting him chair the GPAC, but did they really need to obey their political benefactor by dishing out $27,000 in tax payers money? This is an absolute disgrace, and I will be voting for anyone other than these clowns.
OldTimer said,
October 30, 2009 @ 3:59 PM
It’s not true when you say that only in this city could this happen. Unfortunately, it happens in a lot of cities.
Being the optimist that I am, I didn’t think it could, or would, happen here. I never thought that one (or more in our case) of our elected officials would ever bend and be influenced by someone else. I never thought that someone could have the power and control over our elected officials that Ramos appears to have. (Nobody has yet been able to explain to me how, if the clinic were to pay Ramos the money he wants from them, he will be able to make all the zoning issues just go away. No initiative needed. No special election. They would just go away. How can one man, NOT on the council, have that much control over the city? Can someone explain that to me?)
I am very saddened to know that the people that we the citizens trusted enough to elect have chosen to abandon that trust and do their own thing, that they look after themselves and their backers over the citizens. It upsets me that instead of focusing on the safety and services of the citizens, they are more worried about taking care of themselves and their backers.