Witch Hunt

There is a witch hunt on in full effect in the Kingman area. The terms; lame duck city council, scoundrels, crooks, back door deals, and out of town developers are being thrown around at Kingman City Council meetings relentlessly and at will. I missed the last city council meeting because I was out of town but managed to catch up on what transpired at the city web site.

I appreciate and respect the citizens of Kingman who take time out of their busy schedule to stand in front of Council and say what is on their mind on the important topics of the day. I'm not writing the following to belittle any of the people that have recently stood in front of city council.

I do have some issues with what is being said.

First, the lame duck city council remark. I don't think there are any term limits for council members, including the mayor. The last thing I want to see out of the council is them sitting on their hands for the next six months waiting for the primary elections in March of 2008 to take place. I have made my intention to run for city office known, it is likely that I may be running against sitting members of council... yet still I believe they owe it to the city to continue the management and operation of the city to the best of their abilities.

It is wrong to imply that the folks elected by the citizens and voters of Kingman should stand idle for more than a 1/4 of the mayors term before any more decisions are made as to the direction of the community that is so obviously suffering in some ways at the moment.

If you are a citizen and a voter of Kingman that feels that City Council should not be making any further decisions now through the end of the current term, then stand before council on each and every issue on the agenda and ask Council to vote against making a decision.

The voters of Kingman will be making the decisions on important issues this November. Voters are free to rebuke Council on the general obligation bonds, granting the authority for City Council to sell the city owned lands near Kingman Crossing, and the council's decision to change the designated land use map on the general plan. As citizens and voters, we already have the final say in these very important matters.

Now, onto the back room deals with out of town developers.

We are now supposed to fear a resolution that hasn't been presented to City Council for review at a public meeting as of yet. A remark was made that Kingman should not even consider something (that doesn't exist yet) that comes from a non citizen of Kingman. Sorry... but this is not who gets the votes to win prom king or queen, this is about private property rights.

A private property owner may be offering a resolution for the city to consider that involves property owned by the city (the infamous 'well sites') that is up next to or surrounded by privately owned private property. Representatives of this private property owner have recently said that they would love to work with the city and the citizens on what has become a very touchy subject in the area. They also stated they want to utilize the proper channels in doing so.

A couple of months ago the local chapter of the Builders Association also wanted to offer a resolution to the city regarding another hotly contested issue... development or 'impact' fees. I was contacted by a prominent member of the builders group about my thoughts on their draft of their resolution with the hopes that the Realtors Association could back them on what they were proposing. I was told that the builders contacted city staff and leaders about forming the resolution with the hope that it would appear on a future city agenda for discussion in front of the public. Now I don't know if the builders went in the front door or the back door to get this done, but one thing I know for sure is they didn't appear in front of council at the call for comments from the public asking the citizens first if they could even write up the resolution... they just did it, through the regular and proper channels.

At a City Council meeting on July 16th of this year the builders resolution appeared on the City Council agenda and was discussed before the public and passed by the Council. About a month and a half later the resolution turned into a city ordinance and was scheduled for public discussion and a possible decision but was delayed at the request of the Builders Association.

Why bring up the local builders efforts to produce a resolution that came before the public?? Because it sounds exactly like what a private property owner is trying to do, but because the private property owner is who he is... the witch hunt is on. The local Builders Association (who I have respect and admiration for) is allowed to write up a resolution, get that passed to become an ordinance, then delay the decision on the ordinance on a simple request... but the out of town private property owner can't get his issue on the agenda without a bunch of crap??

Throw the witch into the pond. If she floats, she is a witch and must be burned at the stake. If she drowns... oh well.

Prejudice and fear walk hand in hand around Kingman right now.