One of the biggest problem at city hall, the lack of good governance, is pointed out in this issue where the Pickleball courts seem to be a huge discussion item and the Water Treatment Plant (WTF ha!), not so much. Why is that? Well, maybe the elected officials know a lot more about Pickleball than the essential services of our community. Makes sense, how many people would be knowledgeable about those?
It takes time to get educated on all of these issues, and it usually takes place when an issue is on a meeting agenda. The packets for upcoming meetings are filled with hundreds of pages of information and are usually distributed on Thursday afternoon prior to the Monday meeting. It's the legal amount of time to make the information public, but on the practical side, not even close to enough time to do the due diligence. So the time for the council (and public) to get educated is at the public meetings with staff presentations by the department heads. They are the catalyst for good discussions, good decisions. Are these presentations with question and answer periods still happening? Or are these issues just waved through, with the council trusting the staff's recommendation to approve or sometimes, not approve a proposal, saving time and avoiding long meetings.
No one expects the elected officials to be experts on everything, but we do expect them to be looking out for the people's best interest.
So Councilmembers, take the time needed, do the hard work, make the decisions in the best interest of the people you represent, it is the primary job you were elected to do. And remember, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as a dumb question.
The 2 twelve-year-olds on the Council have wanted to run things since they were actually children. Our poor little town is about to pay for their incompetence. Why has it taken so long for all my friends (Ketchum Business Owners) to get excited about this mess? How can they be afraid of the Troika? Ketchum's voters share the blame. Uninformed and unconscious.
We can only vote for the people who run. If we want a better Council, we need better people to take responsibility. The tragedy of Ketchum is not the incompetence of the council or the mendacity of the Troika---it's that no one competent steps up to lead.
@ PB, et.al. - To achieve a "better Council," Ketchum voters need a better system to elect them. First should be elimination of two votes per voter, then establish runoffs for candidates receiving less than fifty percent of the vote. Two respective precincts should be created, and each should have two councilpersons with staggered terms. Annie has additional ideas that should be considered. Beware the thousands of new voters that will reside once these huge residential rosters are filled with renters working elsewhere in the county. Particularly, Sun Valley.
We have had good candidates in the past. Some have been elected and some not. I agree, some of Craven's ideas may have helped.
But the bottom line is, we don't even know who is going to run for office, mayor or council, until they are all announced. It's a crapshoot.
So yes, I do have another option; The Council/ Manager Form of Government. Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I think it's the way to go. We almost got it done about 15 years ago. 47% of the voters, voted "YES" to the change!
The Council/Manager Form of Government is a professional approach that brings ethics, free of politics, to the day to day running of the city with consistencies from administration to administration, no matter what the outcome of an election. It also frees up time for the elected officials to engage with the stakeholders (us!) and focus on ideas and future wants and needs; the stuff that we're the experts on, it's our life.
Thanks, and re: "bottom line," may I respond with two steps to consider, as follows: First, candidates will be (more) motivated to run and serve, as specific precinct residency requirements would narrow opposition from the helter-skelter method of choosing candidates from an at large "crapshoot" and, secondly, the Council/Manager method you suggest (and with which I concur) is distinct from the election itself. It is the HOW we govern, not the WHO is governing. Additionally, given the future housing plans being considered - "Trail Creek" is obviously sited to appease The Resort's future needs at River Run - it may be Ketchum would be better served with four precincts, rather than two. To be determined...?
Yes, there are two forms of Government allowed in Idaho. The one we currently have is the Mayor-Council Form of Government and then there’s the Council-Manager Form of Government. Both have elected officials who are the governing body, so the need for good candidates is vital to either.
Good one Perry! I laughed, I cried...
One of the biggest problem at city hall, the lack of good governance, is pointed out in this issue where the Pickleball courts seem to be a huge discussion item and the Water Treatment Plant (WTF ha!), not so much. Why is that? Well, maybe the elected officials know a lot more about Pickleball than the essential services of our community. Makes sense, how many people would be knowledgeable about those?
It takes time to get educated on all of these issues, and it usually takes place when an issue is on a meeting agenda. The packets for upcoming meetings are filled with hundreds of pages of information and are usually distributed on Thursday afternoon prior to the Monday meeting. It's the legal amount of time to make the information public, but on the practical side, not even close to enough time to do the due diligence. So the time for the council (and public) to get educated is at the public meetings with staff presentations by the department heads. They are the catalyst for good discussions, good decisions. Are these presentations with question and answer periods still happening? Or are these issues just waved through, with the council trusting the staff's recommendation to approve or sometimes, not approve a proposal, saving time and avoiding long meetings.
No one expects the elected officials to be experts on everything, but we do expect them to be looking out for the people's best interest.
So Councilmembers, take the time needed, do the hard work, make the decisions in the best interest of the people you represent, it is the primary job you were elected to do. And remember, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as a dumb question.
The 2 twelve-year-olds on the Council have wanted to run things since they were actually children. Our poor little town is about to pay for their incompetence. Why has it taken so long for all my friends (Ketchum Business Owners) to get excited about this mess? How can they be afraid of the Troika? Ketchum's voters share the blame. Uninformed and unconscious.
We can only vote for the people who run. If we want a better Council, we need better people to take responsibility. The tragedy of Ketchum is not the incompetence of the council or the mendacity of the Troika---it's that no one competent steps up to lead.
@ PB, et.al. - To achieve a "better Council," Ketchum voters need a better system to elect them. First should be elimination of two votes per voter, then establish runoffs for candidates receiving less than fifty percent of the vote. Two respective precincts should be created, and each should have two councilpersons with staggered terms. Annie has additional ideas that should be considered. Beware the thousands of new voters that will reside once these huge residential rosters are filled with renters working elsewhere in the county. Particularly, Sun Valley.
We have had good candidates in the past. Some have been elected and some not. I agree, some of Craven's ideas may have helped.
But the bottom line is, we don't even know who is going to run for office, mayor or council, until they are all announced. It's a crapshoot.
So yes, I do have another option; The Council/ Manager Form of Government. Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I think it's the way to go. We almost got it done about 15 years ago. 47% of the voters, voted "YES" to the change!
The Council/Manager Form of Government is a professional approach that brings ethics, free of politics, to the day to day running of the city with consistencies from administration to administration, no matter what the outcome of an election. It also frees up time for the elected officials to engage with the stakeholders (us!) and focus on ideas and future wants and needs; the stuff that we're the experts on, it's our life.
Isn't that what we all want?
Thanks, and re: "bottom line," may I respond with two steps to consider, as follows: First, candidates will be (more) motivated to run and serve, as specific precinct residency requirements would narrow opposition from the helter-skelter method of choosing candidates from an at large "crapshoot" and, secondly, the Council/Manager method you suggest (and with which I concur) is distinct from the election itself. It is the HOW we govern, not the WHO is governing. Additionally, given the future housing plans being considered - "Trail Creek" is obviously sited to appease The Resort's future needs at River Run - it may be Ketchum would be better served with four precincts, rather than two. To be determined...?
Thanks for the clarification.
Yes, there are two forms of Government allowed in Idaho. The one we currently have is the Mayor-Council Form of Government and then there’s the Council-Manager Form of Government. Both have elected officials who are the governing body, so the need for good candidates is vital to either.
Perry, this is the best one yet!