Washburn: Council Ducks Critical Local Issue

I found the response to Dan Williams question by the mayor to be interesting considering after reviewing council rules no explicit prohibition of questions posed by concerned citizens to be restricted to only matters on the agenda.

Having lived in Concord since 1971 and served on the council first as a Ward 4 councilor and then two terms as an At-large councilor, I can’t remember any mayor in the past muzzling a concerned citizen. Even if the rules can be contorted in such a fashion, any councilor at any time can move to suspend them to allow the question to be answered if the council concurs.

I also found the manager’s response refreshingly honest.

There is no money in the current budget to conduct any required studies, be they traffic, sewer, water, or others. Any city financial participation in these studies would require a 2/3 appropriation vote by the council.

My suggestion to Mr. Williams is to request a public hearing be held at the September council meeting in writing. Such a request needs to be acted upon at the regular August meeting and requires only a majority vote of the council. It would, in any case, be interesting to see what the council response would be to the request.