Opinion: Should we triple council pay, let them have secret meetings and allow them to restructure boards?
The title of this column may sound a bit loaded, but that’s what is being discussed, according to Saturday’s Daily Camera story on some possible 2024 ballot measures that our city council is considering. My first reaction was, “Are you kidding?” The last thing we need is to reward poor performance, allow the council’s discussions to be even more concealed from public view and give them even more power. When I was elected to the council in 1985, council members served as volunteers, with no pay at all. Looking back, it is my observation that almost all of the many people I served with in my 10 years on the council worked very hard, took their council job seriously, sacrificed their free time and worked to include the citizens in the decisions. It was more of a calling than a job. My impression was that most people felt humbled (to some extent, at least) to be granted the power and responsibility that the job creates and demands. A critical improvement was when we created the Council Age...