Our Moscow City Council election is about a week and a half away. For those involved, the simplest rule of thumb is to vote for no incumbents, which would include Lamar, Ament, and Pall. They have been been hip-deep in the antics of the last several years, and there are a few reminders of that included below. True, Lamar is a recent addition, but if you combine his name with Ament’s, we get LAMENT, and I don’t think we can risk it.
But before getting to that, it is important to note that Moscow has a horse race style election. There are three four-year seats open, and one two-year seat. The top three vote-getters scrambling for the four-year seats will be elected and the top candidate for the two-year seat will be elected. Those who want to clean out this council should therefore keep it simple and not vote for any incumbents (even if they wind up voting for only two candidates), because that could contribute to bumping out a candidate they did vote for. If for your third choice you vote for the least crazy of the incumbents, that vote could help defeat your first choice.
So, why not vote for any incumbents? Here is the council’s record, first on the question of their religious bigotry. Dale Courtney posted the following about this council:
2. Drove Atlas Boys School out of town (for their own safety of course—kill private education, it’s for the kids);
3. Council member Ament tried (but failed) to remove NSA from downtown by advocating a moratorium on all conditional use permits for schools in the CBD (remember this self-proclaimed advocate for “human rights” and supporters of education called NSA “an education-free zone” and its students “Androids”);
4. Imposed parking conditions on NSA that no other business in the downtown is required to meet (all the while winking at the UI’s three downtown locations—there by right and with no parking requirements);
5. Passed new zoning rules for “boarding houses” that do nothing to stop party houses, but removes the freedom of owner-occupied family homes from showing hospitality to students—especially NSA students—or missionaries—especially Mormons, others.
2. Remember the posturing for “no development in the corridor” – which has resulted in significant friction with our neighbors to the West.
3. Remember the handling of the removal of Mr. Jon Wheaton from his 15 years of volunteer service on Board of Adjustment. Local government can certainly make changes in positions, but to “fire” a volunteer, just because he has a different opinion?
4. Remember the WalMart and big retail store decisions.
5. Remember all the rhetoric concerning the development of the 77 acre Thompson property – are you proud of how that was handled?
6. Remember the 3rd Street decisions – and the fact that folks living on D St and 6th Street have been waiting for years for their quality of life to improve (and their traffic to abate some) – a clear example of protect the few and punish the many.
7. Remember the New Cities Vision – thousands of tax dollars to obtain a recommendation that Moscow should have high rise apartments and condos in downtown – and oh, downtown visitors should also have an unobstructed view of the surrounding countryside.
8. Remember the fight with the County over who should manage the impact zone and the City’s position on that – a rather clear end run around state protocols.
9. Remember the effort to bring firearm bans to Moscow – another effort to go around state protocols.
10. Remember the handling of the trees around the Moscow Mall.
11. Need I mention all the angst over selected religious organizations and their occupancy of downtown spaces.
12. Remember the decisions about whether we could cooperate with Whitman County in sharing in development of shared government services (utilities, fire, security) in the corridor.
13. Recall the decision on “living wages”?