Catching Up on the Dispatch Issue
The Town Clerk has reported that Mr. Carroll has submitted a petition recalling the Town Council's order to contract with Cumberland County Regional Dispatch Center for emergency dispatching services. The number of signatures exceeds the 15% registered voters threshold required under the Town Charter. Like all petitions, the Clerk needs to verify the authenticity of the signatures prior to certifying the question eligibility for inclusion on the June town meeting ballot along with the race for Gary Fosters Council seat.
This whole matter might have been avoided had the Council used a bit more effective salesmanship in its deliberations. Politics and public policy is a matter of salesmanship. Corporate board room decision making works well in the private sector, but often plays poorly in the public domain.
Now we will have the public debate we could have had in October.
posted by Publicus at 11:17 AM
9 Comments:
I believe the issue has been framed properly and it's not the councils problem. They are decent people who could not see the deceit of the recaller crowd. I applaud them for their above the negative approach to issues. Let the negative crowd do their stuff. In the end the town will see what and why things happened the way they did and the costs associated with this approach to town politics.
I believe the issue has been framed properly and it's not the councils problem. They are decent people who could not see the deceit of the recaller crowd. I applaud them for their above the negative approach to issues. Let the negative crowd do their stuff. In the end the town will see what and why things happened the way they did and the costs associated with this approach to town politics.
[Delete] ok I have no idea who you are but I can see your agenda and motive so I posted so you could not reproduce. I will not post again but I see you as an evil propogandist..I'm sure that brought a smile to your face ' [delete] ' but deep down you get my point [delete] you have no respect for [delete]democracy and will produce only what [delete] gets your point accross. your pravda comments belong, as you know deep down, right there at home with you [delete] wife
no worries i will not comment again on this sight but I may use your words elsewhere
Time to evoke rule # 2 of the Gray Agora Rules of Order (see August posts).
Phondus, you have actually been assigned a true Greek name, although your namesake had hair like Rosanna Rosannadana, chainsmoked Marboros with the filters broken off, and nervously tapped his foot like he was Gene Kruppa.
Flounder, your name fits your obnoxious nature. Considering the adjectives in your post, the moniker "Flounder" was a gift.
Labels are the great equalizers. They help reduce complex issues to Dick and Jane stories and complex people to single-celled organisms for the benefit of the intellectually-challenged. But obviously, Phondus and Flounder need such labels to explain the success of the dispatch petition drive. The result couldn’t possibly be that a substantial portion of the Gray electorate disagrees with the Council’s action to such a degree that they wish to consider overturning it. No guarantees they will. But in Phondus and Flounder’s mind, those 1,000 people who signed the dispatch petition are actually a collection of evil geniuses who have engineered a grand conspiracy to undermine truth, justice, and the Gray way. Phondus has labeled such petition signers “The Recallers”. Wow, Phondus, you need to put down those Dean Kootz novels for a moment and breathe.
Flounder believes that a duly executed citizen petition and referendum are somehow undemocratic and damn near treasonous. I guess Flounder missed Civics 101. Let’s review…Town Council is form of representative government while a referendum is a one of the last vestiges of true democracy-one citizen, one vote. Referendums reduce the potential for tyranny by an oligarchy, but the architects of referendums ( Adams, Madison, Jay etc) were obviously negative, anti-democratic nabobs that even Gene McCarthy would have hung.
Finally, it is apparent that I gave Flounder the wrong Nome de plume. Flounder claims that his/her post will prevent me from reproducing. Bad news Flounder, you’re too late. I guess I should rename you “Rhythm Method”.
Ahhh but you've missed the point, again. The 900+ signer of the petition were not informed on the issue. Most were misled by the petioners into "saving dispatch".
Ask the committee in charge of the transition to county, ask the Public Safety leadership, ask the dispatcher going to county, you'll be more informed and know what's going on. Do not take a blog or even my word for it. Do not sign anything you are not completely informed about, not for a car, your house, or a petiton. I know it's easy when that nice guy/gal tells you it's important...but to who?
Sticks and stones...call me what you will...Phondus
Ahhh but you've missed the point, again. The 900+ signer of the petition were not informed on the issue. Most were misled by the petioners into "saving dispatch".
Ask the committee in charge of the transition to county, ask the Public Safety leadership, ask the dispatcher going to county, you'll be more informed and know what's going on. Do not take a blog or even my word for it. Do not sign anything you are not completely informed about, not for a car, your house, or a petiton. I know it's easy when that nice guy/gal tells you it's important...but to who?
Sticks and stones...call me what you will...Phondus
To Phondus-
Thanks for your post.
Isn’t it rather presumptuous to claim that the 1000- petitioners were ignorant of what they were signing on November 7th?. What prescience you must have to see into the heart of all 1,000- signers. Ditto goes for the individuals you mentioned. Regardless of how you casually dismiss the results, the 1,000- petitioners knew enough to want to a voice in determining who dispatches local emergency services. As June approaches and these petitioners become more informed, many may end up exonerating the Council decision, but, then again, many may not.
Since you are an advocate for gathering primary information, dispense with the “insider” references and buy a scanner to listen to County’s performance firsthand. You may discover that County dispatchers sound like they are speaking through a kazoo with a mouth full of mashed potatoes, or they forget what Town they are dispatching, or that a MEDCU paramedic intercept is at Exit 10, not the Cumberland Burger King (luckily no one died on that one); or that it often takes three calls to get CC to respond to our people. Start-up mistakes…perhaps.
County and the Town Manager have seven months to clean it up and achieve the same quality level provided by the former Gray dispatch. That should be an easily attainable objective. If they fail, then the voters not only have a right, but a duty to reject the County contract.
Incidentally, despite the charactiture, Phondus was a dear college friend and a respected political leader in Greece. You could not have been ascribed with a more honorable name. If you dislike it, perhaps you could respect Rule 2 of this blog and adopt your own Nome de Plume.
Like I said the names don't bother me but the chain smoking hair comment in describing someone's personality was something you say when you have nothing to say; "I know you are but what am I" comments from childhood come to mind.
The few issues we have now with dispatch we had before with our own folks, I won't go into specifics to embarass anyone needlessly, but we had our own issues too! Humans makes mystakes...we're all human. Let's learn from them and move on.
I agree with you, I mis spoke in the last comment about "all" the petitioners. I have talked with several people about the issue and ALL the ones I've talked to did NOT know the issues. It's like any sales pitch, you do what you have to to get the sale and do not over sell it. Heck, I've been sold things like that in my life too.
The news is all good from what I here from the the town manager, council, and the members of team working with the county that I've sopken to. I also hear that money will be reinvested in the Fire Dept from some of the savings by going to county. A great idea on increasing services without taxing us more.
Pondus... or whatever name you feel like you want to call me.
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