(Op-ed from Peter J. Children)
I write about city politics, that’s what I do. I try and uncover hypocrisy whenever I think its present, some of you do not like that and I understand why. Mostly its because you’re part of it or your friends are in the mix. In almost every game there are two sides…my side and the wrong side.
For those of you who do not understand, let me explain how it works. The beer drinker runs into a situation that gets in his way; much like voting to break a tie on one of his own appointments. I conferred with two former city attorneys and the Attorney General’s office in Des Moines as to the legalities regarding that. All three entities said it was improper, plus the two former city attorney’s who served here said it was illegal. Not a problem for the beer drinker, he just has Tom Meyer interrupt the code to fit his need. Now if you think otherwise you have to dig into your pocket and spend some money and time and he’s betting you won’t do it, and I think he’s right.
Tom Meyer is not going to do this gratis, and the beer drinker knows that. So how do you compensate good old Tom? Easy, you move the Department of Human Resources over to him and pay him something like $47,000.00 a year. Would that work for you? Now the two of them decide it would be better to give that department to Kevin Jacobson, but only pay him six to seven thousand for the same thing Tom was drawing over forty for. Now then Trout with suddenly decides he needs an assistant, Nelson asks why. Trout mentions the flood, Nelson knows the flood happened two years ago, its over. Trout then mentions the Street Scape. Maybe he wants Nelson to think he’s down there driving a truck or moving piles of dirt…he’s not. Trout has his back to the wall now because the beer drinker need to continue compensation to Meyer in order to keep changing the city code to say what he wants. Assistant City Administrator will pay Meyer over forty. In truth Meyer really won’t be doing much on that front but will pick up over $800.00 week extra of taxpayer money to stand ready with more favorable rulings.
The beer drinker doesn’t ever have to worry about anyone at the Globe reporting on this….and if they were to it would come with the built in Globe slant. Of course when you burn the forest and shift the ashes, there is no hard evidence any of it is true…its just my opinion. No City Administrator in this city ever needed or asked for an assistant. Now how do they explain paying Jacobson a mere fraction of what Meyer was getting? There is a real stench surrounding this and no amount of perfume is going to fix it.
If you think this is something, just wait until you see the push to build the Multi-Purpose Center. If these card sharks can figure a way to circumvent a public referendum after they have stacked the deck at the council table the champagne will be flowing at the Country Club throughout the night. Oh by the way…you won’t be invited but you’ll be picking up the tab before that party is over. Maybe you’re thinking there is no way they can bring it to fruition without a public referendum; then just remember these two words. Tom Meyer the guy who is drawing two salaries will start earning his pay. Its his job to pull the rabbit out of the hat for the beer drinker. If he’s not careful one of those magic moments might cost him his law license. I have seen the law bent many times but when you try and bend it too far, it sometimes breaks….and when the law is broken there are always consequences. If you happen to have a law license, that would be the first thing to go….that along with your job and future.
Peter J. Children
