Duane Roberts
From www.voteduaneroberts.com:
DUANE ROBERTS LAUNCHES DRIVE TO CHANGE THE START TIME OF COUNCIL MEETINGS TO 7:00 P.M.
September 12, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Duane Roberts
voteduaneroberts@gmail.com
ANAHEIM, CA–Duane Roberts, a candidate for the Anaheim City Council, has officially launched a drive to change the start time of council meetings from five to seven o’clock, arguing that holding them two hours later on Tuesday evenings would reduce time barriers to accessibility for many residents and increase their rate of participation in civic affairs:
“I recently conducted a survey of all 34 incorporated municipalities here in Orange County and discovered that 29 of them–roughly 85% of all cities–begin the public portion of their council meetings between six and seven o’clock in the evening. Besides Anaheim, the only other city that conducts its meetings at five o’clock is Buena Park. Only three begin before that time, with Laguna Woods, a community of retirees, starting at two o’clock.
“Over the years, I’ve often heard people tell me they would like the opportunity to attend council meetings to speak on various agenda items, but couldn’t do so because of its early start time. Many residents are employed in nine-to-five jobs. When they get off work, some immediately go home to prepare meals for their children. Others commute to outside locales for work and don’t return until after 5:30 p.m. or later due to traffic congestion.
“Bumping up council meetings by two hours to seven o’clock not only would reduce time barriers to accessibility for many workers, mothers, and small business owners, but eventually cause an increase in their rate of participation in civic affairs. No longer would residents feel alienated or disenfranchised for simply being denied an opportunity to speak at a council meeting because it was held at a time that they could not attend.
“I encourage every resident who reads this message, regardless of whether or not they cast their ballot for me in the upcoming November election, to attend the Tuesday, September 25th meeting of the Anaheim City Council and express their support for this idea. The five o’clock start time is nothing more than a relic of a bygone era when Anaheim was still a small community of farmers, not a thriving urban metropolis of 341,000 people. It’s time for a change.”
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“The five o’clock start time is nothing more than a relic of a bygone era when Anaheim was still a small community of farmers, not a thriving urban metropolis of 341,000 people.”
Of course, another alternative would be to change the name of the city to “Amisheim.”
Seriously, this seems like a good idea. I was quite surprised when I learned that the meetings were at 5. But you’d need some sort of marketing plan to spread the idea of “7”. If only there were something like a major soft drink brand that had a “7” in it!
Duane Roberts well make a good change for Anaheim and is what the town needs. I looked on his political 460’s and not a dime from Disney(S) underhanded political brothel type committee..
I hope that Anaheim voters pay close attention to the candidates issues and not to how much the candidates can suck from Disney to stuff voters mail boxes with lies and deceit and garbage.
VOTE NO TO DISNEY 3 STOOGES
LOIS
LODGE
BRANDMAN
ET Snell
Clown Community Activist
http://www.etsnell.com
Who the hell is Lois?
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t Lois Kring.
(doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah)
Huh??? Who’s THAT?
Kring is a Lucille, and not a Disney puppet. I don’t know whom our Clown Community Activist is referring to.
Oh, that’s right. I think he meant Lucille.
Hm, I don’t know what he would know about Lucille or what he would have against her; she’s not really a Disney-Pringle puppet.
I think he means Leos. Disney did donate to his campaign in 2010, however, that is not a benchmark for puppets. Lots of the big companies run the numbers figure out who is most likely to do well, and write them checks as a good will gesture, sort of hedging their bets. In fact, while SOAR and the Chamber backed Tait for Mayor, Disney wrote checks (equal amounts I believe) to both Tait and McCracken 2 years ago, I know because their rep came to a McCracken event at my house to give it to Shirley personally. Sorry, barking up the wrong tree there, Mr. Snell.
I’ve been saving a Kring joke of that type for a long time and am mortified to see that it detonated in the wrong place.
*The starting time for City Council meetings really has nothing to do with much. Here is the proper procedure as we see it: Normally, Study Sessions begin early the same day as the Council Meeting. Example, review of suggestions by the Planning Commission of mitigation measures for some development, land use or transportation or study. Closed Executive Session meetings follow the Study Sessions and relate to Salaries, Pensions and Perks to any current employee or sub-contractor and come after the Study Session . Additionally, Executive Session may also be related to “Whistle Blowers”, Contract Abitration and any contentious Agreements by various Sub-Contractors. Many times Executive Closed Sessions bump into Council Start Times which moves the beginning of Council Meetings forward.
When the meeting begins….with the Pledge of Allegiance…..the intital time should be reserved for any folks with any Off Agenda Items. This has been a real sticking point for many and as a result……The Off Agenda 3-Minute Speeches by the Public have been moved all the way from the beginning of the session….all the way to the end. We are firm believers that these items should be addressed right after the Consent Calendar. The 3-minute Open Mike used to be 5-minutes and probably still should be.
Additionally, when a hot button item comes along, the Council needs to be able to move the Council Agenda around to dispense with sometimes hundreds of very irate citizens. The longer they hang around….the more upset they get…..and additionally, then because they are bored…..they will address just about anything including the collection of dog poop and plastic bags. A good example would be a Consent Calendar issue which has grabbed the attention of the public for some reason.
The best example of this was in Fullerton with the Kelly Thomas issue. You want these
folks in and out so the members of the council can dispense with the people’s business in a very efficient way.
Closing the meeting also should be in the honor of either a highly regarded recently departed citizen of the city……or for an honored elected that has past away within the span of the last council meeting and the current one. This would include say: The killing of our Ambassador in Libya..recently. Flags should be flown at half mast. Anything with a National implication….mind you.
Common sense…makes a lot more sense that just switching around starting times. Lots of Senior Citizens love the 5PM starting time…and want to be home watching
the rest of the meeting on television by 7PM.
Switching the deck chairs on the Titanic will not help. Common sense is the cool alternative!
Duane’ s idea and reasons make sense. I wonder though whether the council members really listen and incorporate some of the comments into policy. My only attendance at these meetings has been at the one at the high school, where overwhelmingly the audience was requesting city elections by district, not in the distant future but whitin a reasonable and timely period.
That meeting was an eye opener for me. Now I understand why so many people in the flatlands do not vote. I hope that MANA and OCCOCA’s voter registration drive makes a difference this time. I also learned how diverse the GOP is at the local level. Mayor Tait and candidate Leos are different than the three GOP council members linked to the Pringle’s consortium.
Duane’s idea and political agenda stated in his website, reminded me that pragmatism also needs to be connected with the root causes of the problems. Many of the problems in our city are a reflection of the policies at the national level. No matter how many true conservatives exist in our city, at the end of the day, the policies of their party is the root cause of so many problems. Duane gets my second vote.
*Toro man – NO Duane’s concept is flawed on the Council start time. Please re-read
our comments prior to yours. Duane is not talking about Emminent Domain or Redevelopment Issues as we see it. He is not talking about Affordable Housing, the ARTIC Transportation Center or the Anaheim Gang Problem.
Duane is talking about City Council Start Times – moving same from 5PM to 7PM which we totally disagree with.
Today I received a fancy flyer about the Anaheim Resort District by the SOAR group. As I newcomer to the inner city politics, my limited knowledge of this group is that it is a front for the Pringle consortium.Their talking points are impressive: Generating the Majority of City Tax Revenue, Creating and Supporting Jobs. The fine print is not that impressive though,one of use of the funds from the resort are ” supporting neighborhoods through graffiti abatement and maintaining roads and parks. ” Our neighborhoods deserve more than graffiti abatement! I will check the Save Anaheim website to get more information on the SOAR group. If anybody else can educate me on this issue, please do so.
I am still waiting for Duane, and any other non GOP connected council candidate to expand on their platform, as Ronn&Ann Winship indicate in the above post. BTW, it is refreshing that the sentiments posted in the “Romney and Ryan” post crosses ideological lines.
I heard that Duane’s idea was well received by Mayor Tait. Let’s see how it is discussed on Tuesday.
I am looking forward to the candidates forums. I would like to know where they stand on:
1) District elections. If they favor them, when and how many districts .
2) Resort Area. How would they balance the business and city interests? How would the less affluent section of the city better benefit from the resort’s revevues, other than graffiti abatement? How would they limit/curtail the influence of the resort’s business interests in the city council?
3) Neighborhoods sustainable development : a) In the absence of federal CDBG funds, how improvement projects can be funded, in areas other than the Hills? b) How could the home foreclosures or high unemployment be mitigated by the city ; c) what programs they have in mind for the at risk -youth, and curbing the influence of gangs, other than using excessive police force?
4) Education. Do they support the $1 Disneyland tax proposal for school purposes?
5) Environment. a)Is the ARTIC Transportation Project a pork barrell for consultants and lobbysts, or an environmentally viable component of mass transportation? b) Is the Outdoor corridor mostly recreational or also a feasible practical outlet for the densely populated areas? Is the power company supplying electricity to the city meeting environmental standards?
I hope that the registration drives in the flatland will make a difference this time. I also hope that no Resort corporate linked candidate is elected. Si se puede!