Thursday, October 13, 2005
A Mugging in Conference Room 1A
I watched something yesterday that I never thought I would
see - a complete breakdown of decorum during a city council
study session - as Mayor Allan Mansoor and Councilman Eric Bever
ganged-up on Councilwoman Katrina Foley.
During the meeting on Tuesday, October 11th, Foley and Bever got into it over Bever's recent allegation of impropriety by Foley earlier this year in the use of the discretionary funds allocated to her. I watched the streaming video of the meeting yesterday morning and came away shaking my head in disbelief.
In a meeting that lasted slightly over thirty minutes, Foley and Bever swapped heated remarks, allegations and innuendo. Bever, joined by his pal Mansoor, questioned Foley's use of funds in terms that Foley, rightfully so, found very offensive. Bever flat out accused Foley of violating state law, even though the city attorney specifically and pointedly commented that no law had been broken. Like a pit bull with a fancy coiffure, Bever wouldn't let it go. He waved "documents" around - study aids from conferences he attended using his discretionary funds - which purportedly supported his position. It's unclear whether any of those documents included the law to which he referred.
Both Bever and Mansoor made it clear through their comments and actions that they were "going to get to the bottom of this!" I interpreted that to mean that they were going after Foley with both barrels.
As if the inaccurate and unsubstantiated allegations were not bad enough, Bever admitted that he had requested copies of Foley's cell phone records earlier that day. Foley was rightfully peeved at this attempt to further defame her character. Since she is a lawyer, I wouldn't be surprised if Bever and Mansoor soon find themselves staring at legal papers because of their latest chicanery.
This petty partisan political attack is just the latest in a series of acts by Mansoor and Bever which appear to be designed to disenfranchise dissenting voices on the council. It appears to me that Mansoor, in his quest to raise his political profile - perhaps in anticipation of a run for higher office in the not-to-distant future - has attempted to turn this city into his own little dictatorship.
The shameful display on Tuesday was obviously an orchestrated maneuver, which makes me wonder who's doing the orchestrating. Personally, I don't believe Mansoor or Bever are clever enough to come up with this stuff on their own. They both need to tread very carefully because, in addition to possible legal action, it's this kind of behavior from which recalls spring. I've already heard that word mentioned around town recently. This latest fiasco will just add fuel to that fire.
In a previous entry I referred to Bever as our municipal loose cannon. Well, that description might have been too mild. Watching him in action during public meetings is a little like watching a Roadrunner cartoon, with Bever playing the Wile E. Coyote role. It's as though he's using the fuse on a stick of dynamite as a candle in a bunker full of explosives. You know that, if you watch long enough, the whole thing is going to blow up in his face
The issue of "guidelines" for the use of council member discretionary funds apparently will be discussed at a future council meeting. Hopefully, Gary Monahan and Linda Dixon, both of whom were absent from this study session, will make an appearance at that one.
These are sad times for our city. Of course, that's just my opinion.
9:28 am pdt
During the meeting on Tuesday, October 11th, Foley and Bever got into it over Bever's recent allegation of impropriety by Foley earlier this year in the use of the discretionary funds allocated to her. I watched the streaming video of the meeting yesterday morning and came away shaking my head in disbelief.
In a meeting that lasted slightly over thirty minutes, Foley and Bever swapped heated remarks, allegations and innuendo. Bever, joined by his pal Mansoor, questioned Foley's use of funds in terms that Foley, rightfully so, found very offensive. Bever flat out accused Foley of violating state law, even though the city attorney specifically and pointedly commented that no law had been broken. Like a pit bull with a fancy coiffure, Bever wouldn't let it go. He waved "documents" around - study aids from conferences he attended using his discretionary funds - which purportedly supported his position. It's unclear whether any of those documents included the law to which he referred.
Both Bever and Mansoor made it clear through their comments and actions that they were "going to get to the bottom of this!" I interpreted that to mean that they were going after Foley with both barrels.
As if the inaccurate and unsubstantiated allegations were not bad enough, Bever admitted that he had requested copies of Foley's cell phone records earlier that day. Foley was rightfully peeved at this attempt to further defame her character. Since she is a lawyer, I wouldn't be surprised if Bever and Mansoor soon find themselves staring at legal papers because of their latest chicanery.
This petty partisan political attack is just the latest in a series of acts by Mansoor and Bever which appear to be designed to disenfranchise dissenting voices on the council. It appears to me that Mansoor, in his quest to raise his political profile - perhaps in anticipation of a run for higher office in the not-to-distant future - has attempted to turn this city into his own little dictatorship.
The shameful display on Tuesday was obviously an orchestrated maneuver, which makes me wonder who's doing the orchestrating. Personally, I don't believe Mansoor or Bever are clever enough to come up with this stuff on their own. They both need to tread very carefully because, in addition to possible legal action, it's this kind of behavior from which recalls spring. I've already heard that word mentioned around town recently. This latest fiasco will just add fuel to that fire.
In a previous entry I referred to Bever as our municipal loose cannon. Well, that description might have been too mild. Watching him in action during public meetings is a little like watching a Roadrunner cartoon, with Bever playing the Wile E. Coyote role. It's as though he's using the fuse on a stick of dynamite as a candle in a bunker full of explosives. You know that, if you watch long enough, the whole thing is going to blow up in his face
The issue of "guidelines" for the use of council member discretionary funds apparently will be discussed at a future council meeting. Hopefully, Gary Monahan and Linda Dixon, both of whom were absent from this study session, will make an appearance at that one.
These are sad times for our city. Of course, that's just my opinion.
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