Editor:
Last week’s edition of The New Era contained a letter that went to great lengths to complain about an editorial that had been unsigned.
I would offer a simple explanation: When the heading says “Editorial,” it was written by the owner/editor of the paper, in this case Scott Swanson. If it was a guest editorial it would have said so in the heading and would have been signed.
The letter was more written to complain about the editor’s opinion on the method used to elect the mayor of Sweet Home. At the present, there is a movement to change the method of electing the mayor by doing a charter change.
In the first meeting in January, when the new councilors were sworn in and a new mayor elected, Councilor Sanchez offered the nomination of Dylan Richards for mayor and stated that “while Dylan is the youngest member of the council, if it was put to a popular vote, he would be elected.”
Sadly, this might be true.
Dylan, based on his past performance of non-participation by missing many meetings, including the fact (I am told) that he hasn’t attended a Budget meeting in the last two years, would be the least qualified of all the councilors, including the new ones, to serve as mayor. The reason being that in today’s society social media plays a much too important role in how we get our news and base our opinions.
If you use TikTok, Facebook or other sites to get your so called facts, you are missing the boat. For many times, I have seen people admit that while having lived in Sweet Home for six, eight or even 10 years, they have never attended a meeting but now by some miracle they have all the answers on how things should be run.
I guess what I am really saying is that if you want social media to play an important part in electing your mayor, then vote for a charter change.
While there are many people that have good intentions of using the popular vote in electing the mayor, there are just as many that believe electing from the council is the best way because it is rare that the person elected has not served on several committees, such as Budget, Traffic Safety or Parks Board, and has at least an understanding of how the system works instead of coming into the top job on your first attempt at public service.
It’s my personal opinion that the Budget Committee is the best place to start, because if you don’t have a basic understanding of where the money comes from and the restrictions on how it’s spent, you will have a hard time navigating through it and the city will suffer for it.
Have there been mistakes made over the years? Of course there have, as no system is perfect. But it has served us pretty well.
As you consider the change, you should also consider how the position might change. Will the mayor continue to have a vote on the council, or will they be like Lebanon and only in case of ties, commonly known as the “weak mayor” system. Our mayor cannot issue executive orders; they can issue proclamations, but their basic duties are those outlined in the editorial referred to at the start of this letter.
Another thing brought up during the January meeting was a reference to Roberts Rules of Order and the allowance of a minority opinion. Roberts Rules of Order is not a Bible for the council, but rather a tool to be used for the conducting of meetings.
There is nothing wrong with adopting rules of conduct for the council; that has always been a common practice.
As pointed out in the editorial, it’s important for the council to present a solid front in matters such as the Green Peter drawdown. Have your disagreements during discussion, but when a decision is made it becomes a decision of the City Council.
Minority reports do not mean that a councilperson has the right to go running to the press or social media to assail other members of the council.
We have a sitting councilor who has posted on a Facebook site, not their personal page, “the meeting was a joke” and “we need a new mayor.”
As long as these kinds of things exist, we will not have a fully functional council.
I recall a time a few years back, when I asked to be recorded as the single NO vote on an item during budget discussions. At the last council meeting in June of that year, I recommended, on behalf of the committee, adoption of the budget as presented.
We had our discussions, we had our vote, the issue was decided. I was chairman of that committee.
Dave Holley
Sweet Home