The Richardson City Council, adding to its long history of misjudgment, has just elected Ken Hutchenrider as Mayor Pro Tem. One of the main duties of Mayor Pro Tem is to chair council meetings in the Mayor's absence. What can go wrong? Richardson City Council meetings have never been a shining example of parliamentary procedure. Often things are confused, and sometimes just plain wrong.
Part 3 of 3.
Source: Hamilton: An American Musical.
No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in the room where it happens.
Source: Hamilton.
In the first two parts of this (too long) blog post (Part 1, Part 2), I congratulated Mayor Amir Omar on trying to add transparency to the council's decisions. And I applauded Jennifer Justice and Joe Corcoran for joining him in voting against moving the decision-making process into secret. And I didn't applaud Hutchenrider, Barrios, Dorian, and Arefin who all voted to continue excluding the public from witnessing the council conduct this important business.
Today, I'll examine the result of the council's closed-door session, their pick for Mayor Pro Tem for 2025-2027. I could have led with that two days ago, but I seriously think the process used (closed instead of open) was the more important story. Mayor Pro Tems come and go. The principle of transparency is forever. My mission is to rescue "transparency" from the lip service that politicians pay it, and give gravity back to the word, so people take it seriously again.
Part 2 of 3.
Source: Hamilton: An American Musical.
No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in the room where it happens.
Source: Hamilton.
Yesterday, in Part 1, I congratulated Mayor Amir Omar on trying to add transparency to the council's decisions. And I applauded Jennifer Justice and Joe Corcoran for joining him in voting against moving the decision-making process into secret. And I didn't applaud Hutchenrider, Barrios, Dorian, and Arefin who all voted to continue excluding the public from witnessing the council conduct this important business.
Today, I'll examine the council's reasoning behind their decision to keep their deliberation secret.
Source: Hamilton: An American Musical.
No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in the room where it happens.
Source: Hamilton.
Amir Omar, when campaigning to become mayor of Richardson, wrote, "As Mayor, I envision propelling our city to regional leadership in transparency." Well, Amir Omar became mayor and on Monday night, while presiding over his first City Council meeting, Mayor Amir Omar began delivering on his promise. It came during the selection of the Mayor Pro Tem.
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