Two more questions then closing statements.
Next question: How much time involved in being on the council?
"My cell phone will be on 7/24" and return phone calls wil be made, Bruce Lydem said.
Geladino and Blaschke said they'll be available day and night.
"It can't take more time than campaigning has," Cockayne said.
McCauleys said try doing the job and campaigning. "There is a year and a half learning curve," McCauley said, including learning how to deal with people.
Good Lord, is there anyone who want to talk to a city councilor in the middle of the night?
Meetings happen all day long, McCauley. "There is a lot of dedication and sacrifice" involved, he said.
This is true.
Need a new form of government?
Blaschke said that there would be more politics with a manager. He said the city is not a business, it's a government. A manager "would make more bureaucratic noise" and be even more screwed up.
Lydem said that he opposes a town manager. He said that the Board of Finance is what makes Bristol unique. Its members have been frugal. He's willing to consider nine city councilors instead of six.
McCauley said 26 of 169 municipalities have managers. He favors researching idea with the charter committee but isn't ready to back it. He favors a 9-person council with all the work that's involved. Having three more "would benefit in the long run" because of the efficiency of it.
Cockayne said he backs the manager concept. Any business with $160 million would have a CFO. "A city is a business" with bills to pay and a payroll. He said he would also like a 9-person council with a staggered election cycle so there would always be veterans.
Geladino said we need a manager, "a professional person who could run this city."
"I don't see Bristol as a whole right now doing so well. I think we need help," Geladino said. People talk at cross purposes. "We need to bring everyone back together," he said.
Any more pies?
*******
Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
17 comments:
Kevin gets the pie yet again. If the learning curve is 1 1/2 years for him, then maybe he's not very capable of the job in the first place.
Bruce's phone will be on for July 24th?
Again, Cockayne didn't do his homework. We have a CFO in the for of Mr. Clocko. Oops! Better find out more about city government, Ken, before you speak. I don't know who is greener - Ken C. or Kermit the Frog.
Hey, Steve, Do we really need to egg on some people into negatively comparing all the candidates, i.e. your quote of "pie in the face"? Haven't things been negative enough already? This is a forum not a debate. They didn't get a chance to confront each other on the issues. Let's watch the televised program and judge for ourselves if they adequately answered the questions posed to them. I don't believe anyone ended up with pie in their face. I dare any citizen who criticizes these folks to take the time out of their busy lives to run for office just to be scrutinized with a fine toothed comb and chastised for attempting to make some positive changes for this city. I don't care of you're Republican or Democrat. Let's give these people credit for getting up there and wanting to go beyond the call of civic duty.
Apparently people will be voting in Mr. Blaschke come November, because of all the people who didn't have their act together, it was him, but Kevin and Bruce seem to be getting the majority of the criticisms. Interesting. The Republicans are running scared and it shows!
I thought Cockayne answered the question the best! He put thought into it. Unlike Lydem who once again danced around the question.
Let me see now ... would the Republicans really have us believe that Geladino or Cockayne will step in, never having been politicians, as they so frequently reminded us, and not have a learning curve of at least 1 1/2 years? Wake up! Mr. McCauley had never been in office before and is definitely on top of things. Ask anyone who has served in that role before and who has served with him. There are a lot of things to learn, a lot of committees to learn about, learning about the inner workings of the city and working with department heads and dealing with constituent issues and ordinances and zoning regulations. The list goes on and on, but he's being criticized for his learning curve? PUUUULLEEEZZZE!
If it was so hard for Kevin to learn these things, he got in over his head and should have stayed out of politics. a year and half learning curve for city councilman?? in the real world that would get you fired.
Lydem will be another Ellen/union puppett. I can't imagine how long his learning curve would be.
The Republicans in this race have no chance. Ignorant and inexperienced.
A staggered election cycle? How screwy would that be not to mention the expense! I guess fiscal responsibility went out the window with that answer. Anymore bright ideas, Ken?
I hardly believe Kevin got in over his head. I believe he's trying to let those running know that it takes the 1 1/2 years to fully learn and understand how the city functions and how to tackle the many issues that crop up. He still did his job, but anyone in that position is always learning since the job changes with each new ordinance change or zoning change or constituent issue. Their terms should go longer than two years. It's just too short a time to get anything done anyway.
Kevin would have learned the ropes a lot faster if he had done research and made decisions without other council members telling him what to do and how to vote.
He slowed down his learning process by playing follow the leader instead of being an individual.
It's Kevin's fault if it took him 1 and a half years of a learning curve. He was not prepared, he had no experience in Zoning or Planning or Wetlands, never served on any boards. If he was overwhelmed learning the job, then it's his own fault and shouldn't have run for an office he wasn't prepared for.
Seems like the Dems are running scared with thier comments on this blog
Talk about making baseless accusations with no facts to back them up. I would love to see the proof you have that Kevin didn't make decisions for himself. I've known this man for many years and know him to be an extremely hard worker, a fast learner and dedicated in anything he does. He's meticulous in his work just asked anyone who knows him so making statements about not doing the research is absolutely ridiculous. He's been on committees outside the city with me and I'm proud to know that he is one of the honest ones representing this city. He decides how to vote based on what he feels is best for the city and his constituents. You might not like the way he voted on something, but he stands behind every vote. Your comment is false and disrespectful and is typical of someone who, when faced without an argument, will say things in a shameful attempt to discredit an honest man who cares deeply about this city and its people.
Nobody is calling Kevin a bad guy. Just that he was not ready for the job if it took him 1.5 years to get up to speed and had no experience to prepare him.
Pies, Steve? You bet! Lemon, apple, blueberry, mince, pumpkin, custard cream, all of the above.
But wait. Those sound too good to waste on these jokers. Let's have a slice instead and try to think about something else.
You Republicans can spin Kevin's comments any way you want. People know who he is. They know what a hard worker he is. They know how thorough he is. They know he's gotten the job done and his productivity didn't just start 6 months ago. It started from day one. Apparently you'd rather have someone in office who rants and raves at council meetings and another one who can't make a single decision on a hot topic, because he feels it might not get him the vote.
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