The Coffey Brood
ByCouncilman Ehrenreich offered his opinion on the budget and the obligatory words speaking against the COLA rate of increase. He also said that it is a very lean budget. No question that deriving any budget is an exhaustive process.
I decided to skip to councilmember Penny Coffey’s discussion points. Part of the reason is to keep the ball rolling but also because there are few things that Ms. Coffey said that I adamantly disagree with and those points need to be addressed.
To Penny Coffey’s benefit, she is responsive to my inquiries and was forth coming on her opinions–especially the fire service issues and levy. Though I may not always agree with her I acknowledge that she always strives to have DuPont reach the full potential of her vision.
Knowing this, it is unfortunate that she did not utilize her time to discuss some excellent points she had made regarding COLA and the comparable with other cities. She was absolutely correct that renegotiating the union contract this late in the game would have been costly in the associated attorney’s fees. She is also correct that stability is an important virtue that DuPont had been lacking. However, there are some circumstances other than salary that created that situation of years past. Also, stability at too high of a price isn’t stable at all. You also need to consider the citizens since they are the ones writing the checks.
Councilmember Coffey has a vision for DuPont, unfortunately, I do not think it is a vision shared by many in this community based on previous failed ballot proposals and the lack of consistent citizen input. For whatever reason, it has been a hard sell to the new, expanded DuPont and Northwest Landing. Ms. Coffey’s vision is more closely aligned with the glossy color drawings presented in the original blue print of what DuPont could be. It is a builder’s vision. However, somewhere along the way people moved into town and ruined everything.
Councilmember Coffey mistakenly asked me my salary and benefits. I am unsure of what her point was but if it was to compare industry to government then it is a weak argument. I wrote about this prior to the budget vote. It also was evading a point of why the COLA would go to not represented employees. And, it does not address questions of productivity versus wage.
There are too many points to be made but one does not escape: That the 5.8% COLA that was negotiated and then approved by the city council was egregious in the first place. Somebody within the city leadership needs to take responsibility for that.
I will wait a month of Sundays for a cold day in hell before that happens.
Maybe Coffee thinks we all got raises this year. If thats the case, she’s way off base.
If she is worried about losing Bill and Dawn to another town or private industry then maybe we should let them go. They will find a scary job market where everyone is told they are lucky to even have a job.
Those two aren’t pulling the biggest salary increases this year. However, a few firefighters are getting a 14% pay increase. Imagine that!
There was no place for that letter that was read! To blame those who did not support that levy is misplaced. This council does not deserve a blank check when they are the very ones who agreed to the 5.8% to begin with. It is hypocritical that they are suddenly against the COLA only because the voters spoke up.
Palisade Res,
If the city policy is to give the same rate of increase to exempt as non-exempt on COLA then no one from city staff should participate in contract negociations or make recommendations on comparable salaries from other cities. It is a conflict of interest.
I will tell you how much I make but then I have some questions for you.
Who do these people represent? The city or it’s citizens?
Outraged – I agree! They should not have participated. Yet they did, and intend on doing the same this year. 5.8% is bad enough. A 14% raise is uncalled for. Westman was the only one who had the balls to vote no.
For some odd reason, most on Council are afraid to stand up for what they believe in. They will only vote for or against something if citizens act up. It’s a popularity contest. Unfortunately none of them were being elected in 2008. But 2009 is a different story. It’s time to clean house, folks.
Palisade Res,
It is always interesting to see what other city’s unions are doing about COLA raises.
http://columbian.com/article/20081231/NEWS02/712319948
This union chose to forgo there cola to keep a fire station open in a city.
You are dead on with the council, it is time to clean house, besides Westman (Keep on fighting for the citizens).
These council member budget comments are pathetic. What a shame and embarrassment to our city! I read in the Clipper one of them resigned. Anybody know who it was?
It should come as no sunrise that the council is a bunch of yes (wo)men. Correct me if i am wrong but not a single one of them ran for council, they were all appointed by the council to the council. Yes many have been elected since they were first put on the council but none ran for there first term.
I meant surprise, not sunrise
Hoff Hell Raiser,
It was Ali Bailey who resigned to spend more time with her family.
Thanks for that info Major. As to Palisade Res about cleaning house, I am wondering who else out there could do better at filling their shoes. This may be the best Dupont has to offer for these positions (other than the Mayor). After all, these are part time positions (if that) and the only qualification is that you live in Dupont. Maybe we should lower our expectations for them, especially when it comes to them listening and representing their constituents instead of only the labor unions and Quadrant who really run the town.
Amazing review of our council. What was the point of that letter read in the video? How was it even related to the budget?
I just lost all my respect for Penny Coffee. Why does she imply that the citizens should be punished for the failure of the levy?
The firefighters got their pay increases. It didn’t matter if the levy passed or not. The Levy was flawed from the start. That was council’s fault. Not the voters. Council approved the COLAs. The voters did not. Where was the frickin polling prior to anyone considering if our community could even afford such a huge increase? They were playing a freekin shell game! She will never admit that it was council’s fault that the levy failed. Every other council member has admitted to not doing their homework. Yet she still points fingers to everyone else. Time to start looking in the mirror, Penny.
It is too easy to single out one member of the council. I do not think Penny is at fault any more than any other member of council. They have nothing to show for 2008 because they will not come together for all of DuPont. They are all in it and all going in seven different directions. What the city needs in strong and visionary leadership, especially in the challenging times we are facing.
We need the Mayor to lead. Not the City Administrator.
She is very self righteous in her comments. Why is there a comparison of Bill McDonald to a CEO in terms of salary? Whoa baby, out of touch to the core.
Taken from the Seattle Times:
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Letters to the editor
Following messages
The times call for a selfless citizenry willing to be led
Editor, The Times:
Some popular themes expressed since the election are the public’s lack of trust in politicians and the weak leadership provided by those same elected officials. Both thoughts are far too simplistic and don’t touch on the real problem. Is it just possible that a majority of the people in this state refuse to be led? A representative democracy without committed followers is a serious problem.
The duties of citizenship used to involve a common moral obligation to seek the greater good and the most inclusive benefits for all. Now, instead of elevating our discussion and debate on issues of public policy and the allocation of resources, we settle for the demagoguery of narrow-interest initiatives and anti-government rhetoric. At the core of these initiatives are three negative messages: Don’t trust elected representatives, make sure you get your personal benefit, and suspend any thought about real consequences.
This state is becoming ungovernable. Let’s not be fooled, we have created a stage for crackpots and demagogues to control the political agenda.
We don’t have a leadership crisis; we have a followership crisis! I have worked with scores of elected officials and find the vast majority to be unselfish and committed to serving their constituents.
Our Founding Fathers expressed a real fear of the “tyranny of the majority” and designed a representative democracy as a safeguard. We need thoughtful legislation with good peer review; instead, we settle for guerrilla initiatives focused on revenue subtraction. I, for one, don’t believe the lie that we can solve problems and meet real needs with a series of “hit them in the pocketbook” initiatives. Their only effect is to hobble state and local government. The larger danger is that we are destroying the confidence of our legislative bodies and elected representatives.
Let’s be better citizens, do our homework, elect great representatives, and be willing to follow their lead. We might just find that they would help solve some of our perplexing problems if we would give them a little support.
Bill McDonald, Snohomish
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20021114&slug=thurslets14
It is always good to know the view of the administration.
Great. More blaming the citizens.
It appears the city council has either bought into or has been snookered into representing Bill McDonald’s view the “citizens” of a government.
Penny’s comments are very defensive of the budget, not much public scrutiny. I am left to believe she is advocating the city administrators position rather than the citizens, including those who came to city hall to speak on the matter.
The mayor and council keep asking citizens to come to the meetings and speak up about what they oppose. Even when they do, the council members appear to already have a pre-determined vote. So how many citizens would it take to change direction? We usually do not hear about something until 1-2 weeks before the vote and by then it is too late, thus the constant criticism through the only interactive communication venues – the City Blogs.
So I ask, who are our council members representing, and how do they know they are in line with their constituents? There are 8000 of us. The only one who has reached out and solicited my inputs has been Roger Westman, we all saw that he voted differently.
Good post Cowboy! That certainly explains the disconnect between the council/mayor and the citizens. I take back what I said about who runs the city (I should of listened better to Roger Bacon a long time ago). That letter needs to be posted in the forumn in government before it is long forgotten.
The forum will not let me log in, so could someone put it in the forum for me?