After last week’s column on Narcissistic Personality Disorder and given the current elections happening in Bay City, I felt it pertinent to follow up with an opinion of a similar vein.
At almost every City Council meeting you’ll hear one or several council members and city administrators bemoaning and whining about how they’re portrayed in the “local media.”
If you’ll look to the top of this page, dear reader, you’ll see this area as clearly defined for “Opinions” and that’s all they are.
I was under the impression that those who run for political office with the intention to serve their constituents then they would develop thick skin rather quickly.
Or, is that just something obvious to me?
Over the years, friends and other elected officials have asked
me why I don’t run for office to provide a fresh viewpoint to any number of boards.
There are only two things holding me back - I live in the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) and don’t have the time to dedicate to one board, organization, or group due to trying to cover as many of them as I can for the paper.
Despite that, I also recognize the possible burdens that serving can have on someone – but cutting down city council meetings to once a month is not the way to fix it.
In fact, you’ll often find me and Mike attending multiple city meetings a month for workshops, city council, and other boards.
I don’t share the City Attorney’s belief that as Bay City grows then less meetings should happen due to using a consent agenda to streamline council meetings.
Citizens deserve more dedication, the chance to be heard, and to learn more about the kind of business city council and city administration is doing.
Honestly, as much crying as I hear about elected officials and leaders being accused of the “Good Ol’ Boy” system and hidden agendas, there should be enough to push for more transparency.
And if you can’t manage that, then why even run for office?
As for the City Manager debate, we only made that structural switch after the 2019 election and only hired our initial Interim City Manager Richard Morton in August 2019, with former City Manager Shawna Burkhart hired in early 2020.
Burkhart separated from the city in January 2024 and then Finance Director and Assistant City Manager Scotty Jones was appointed as Interim City Manager before council bumped her up to City Manager in November 2024.
It was then relayed that Jones had 12 months to move within city limits to meet the residency requirement outlined in the City Charter since the 2019 election.
I think it’s worth noting that Jones has been employed by the city since 2016 and knew the requirements of the job she’s seemingly targeted.
Now residents are supposed to vote to let council waive the residency requirement to 20-miles from the city limits so long as the city manager resides within the county?
I’m wholeheartedly against such a waiver because I firmly believe that the city manager should be paying for city services and utilities, experiencing traffic headaches and lingering trains all while paying city taxes, too.
I mean, our city council has to do the same, along with county commissioners residing in their precincts.
Anything less is disrespectful to residents!