tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post7900311063137097431..comments2024-03-22T16:02:08.213-05:00Comments on The Wheel: Time to Review Richardson's Code of Ethics Mark Stegerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376182294736839659noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-7981796889507740312018-05-23T16:28:52.434-05:002018-05-23T16:28:52.434-05:00I fully agree that citizens have a responsibility ...I fully agree that citizens have a responsibility to demand good governance from their elected representatives. On the other hand, elected representatives have a responsibility to be aware of what's needed for good governance and deliver same. It's dereliction of duty to wait for citizens to ask.Mark Stegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02376182294736839659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-25494076317062587732018-05-23T15:57:35.132-05:002018-05-23T15:57:35.132-05:00I haven't checked, but I would be willing to b...I haven't checked, but I would be willing to bet that not a single citizen appeared at any review to express concern. <br /><br />As for citizen input, there is always opportunity for citizen input:<br />1. emails to the councilmembers (email addresses are published on the city website).<br />2. phone calls to councilmembers (some councilmembers give out a phone number, and it isn't hard to find the others - just ask the councilmembers who get texts from angry citizens on a variety of issues.<br />3. at every worksession that is not followed by a council meeting (the three I referred to were all like this), there is a Visitor's Section in which residents can speak for 5 minutes on anything, like an agenda item on ethics later in the meeting. I have personally seen the council referring to visitor comments during the agenda item's discussion, so coming and speaking in this case is not wasted.<br /><br />In short, governance should be a joint effort between the people and their representatives. If voters are concerned about an issue, they have a duty to make the effort to contact their representatives in a way made freely available to them.mccalpinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02768191960822864278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-12964047752259249462018-05-23T15:15:07.054-05:002018-05-23T15:15:07.054-05:00Bill, thanks for that research. The 2016 "rev...Bill, thanks for that research. The 2016 "review" took a total of 6 minutes, 43 seconds of a council work session. The council had zero questions and zero feedback. No citizen input was asked for. Evidently, the council is satisfied with the Code of Ethics that failed the City in the Palisades scandal. This is not the kind of review I called for.Mark Stegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02376182294736839659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-41347867607894198932018-05-23T15:12:42.712-05:002018-05-23T15:12:42.712-05:00As I would have expected, the review of the Code o...As I would have expected, the review of the Code of Ethics has been on the Council calendar every two years, as required.<br /><br />RICHARDSON CITY COUNCIL<br />WORK SESSION AGENDA<br />MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2012<br />handout - https://www.cor.net/home/showdocument?id=5322<br /><br />RICHARDSON CITY COUNCIL<br />MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014<br />WORK SESSION AT 6:00 PM<br />handout - https://www.cor.net/home/showdocument?id=11242<br /><br />RICHARDSON CITY COUNCIL<br />MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016<br />WORK SESSION AT 6:00 PM<br />handout - https://www.cor.net/home/showdocument?id=16221<br /><br />This scheduling suggests that the next review of the Code of Ethics will be at a worksession (not a council meeting) in October of 2018.mccalpinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02768191960822864278noreply@blogger.com