Posted on 12/30/2008 5:13:37 PM PST by AuntB
GRANTS PASS, Or. -- Even though the raises are in the budget, a group of Grants Pass city employees says higher salaries would be unseemly.
Members of the Grants Pass Employee Association have told city officials they'll forgo 2.5 percent cost of living adjustments due with the new year.
Association leaders say the members looked at the overall economy and the layoffs among major local employers and decided they didn't want their friends and neighbors to see them as grabbing money.
The decision is expected to save the city at least $87,000.
Assistant City Manager Laurel Samson said nearly 100 employees have decided not to take raises, including some supervisors who usually get the same percentage increase as association members.
Yes it would. Just as long as it isn't their stage costume, I might be interested in seeing the show, it sounds like a blues thing...
I don’t much disagree with your evaluation. I do know that we have a lot of people crying wolf with the intent to obscure the situation here. The corruption is deep and wide spread. I just wanted to point out that there are still some good folks who try to do the right thing. In the court system, not so much. If you’re a male and going through divorce or custody issues, kiss your butt good-bye.
The new mayor will last less than a year or so. He was
pushed by the old boys club to keep the status quo which isn’t
going to work with the new members of the city council. He
doesn’t have the stomach for a fight.
Our congressman came to town and requested a meeting with the county commissioners to see how he could help--the County Judge lied and said he would be out of town.
The congressman came anyway and met the public in an eatery across the street from the courthouse. The commissioners didn't cross the street to meet with him but he later went to the tour the courthouse and the judge and commissioners were having an illegal unposted meeting in the commissioner's court room. They only care about themselves...they couldn't care less about the loggers that are suffering. Our congressman is a Repub but we do not have one Repub elected county official. We have a new Dem County Judge who thinks the congressman is his best friend.
I think our commissioners' average IQ is ab out 80.
That is partial true. What was not reported is that the
CPS people stepped way out of bounds legally and if the family
had had a good legal eagle, the whole case would and should
have been thrown out. The family had done nothing wrong at
all in the eyes of the law until a busy body complained and
then the CPS people stepped in and literally made up charges.
The courts are one issue, I agree that they are out of control. Yet, I also believe my LEO friend when he said that the kids were in terrible shape and truly in danger. The taking of the kids was necessary, the follow up? I don’t know. Remember that some of the kids required hospitalization to get them up to a decent weight. Maybe education of the parents would have worked, but they threw that option away with a gun and kidnapping. If you remember the case, the parents stopped their court ordered visitation in protest. Nobody could convince me to stop seeing my child. Regardless of if it’s supervised or not. I went through years of custody battles and at no time did I think that kidnapping was a viable alternative. If the children had been in danger in the states custody I would have felt differently. There is no evidence that they were endangered by anyone other than their parents.
Your county mirrors mine and I’m in SE TX. I think it must be a universal problem with bureaucrats.
That case (Christine’s) was well discussed here. Most think the authorities got it right.
Too bad the Yankee Pot Roast is gone, was a great place to eat. Jack Ridley, who passed away a few years ago, opened that restaurant in the 80's (he also started R-Haus).
Buildings downtown old and in need of renovation? Compared to the first time I was in Grants Pass, about 1981, downtown has been extensively renovated. The last time I was in GP, a few months ago, downtown looked good to me. Most buildings are occupied and in good repair.
The good people who are trying to do the right thing often get sued and dragged through the kangaroo court here for one reason or another. It is used as a tactic of intimidation against them. The feds need to investigate the court in Josephine county.
Yes, you are aware of the situation.
There is a lot of work to do and a lot of conflicts of interest to resolve.
They also need to get the city out of the real estate business.
Speaking as an indusrial engineer, I disagree. Most buildings downtown are occupied yes, but recently several have become vacatnt.
But, in good repair? No. Structural integrity is very poor and the city is over a barrel... they want the tax revenues, but cannot afford to order compliance. The owners don't have any cash flow to make repairs.
“Had the best prime rib in the world at The Brewery.”
Goodness, that brings back some memories! Glad to hear the Brewery is still there.
Legality is not a matter of public opinion here. The taking someone's children by a government agency based solely upon an anonymous report is serious business.
I don't approve of the parents one bit, but neither do I approve of the kidnapping by the government agency driving up in a van and grabbing kids. What a nightmare scenario on all sides.
I wonder what would have happened if someone thought the kids were too fat?
The old boys thought that by controlling the mayorship that
they’d control the city....totally wrong. They were caught
by the short hairs when the four won their seats on the city
council. There’s a couple of currant city council members who will go along with the new agenda and it’s to bad that
Jocyln Richardson is leaving.
There are four new openings on the budget committee and that is also going to stir the pot as the new city council gets to pick whom they want and this time it will not be a
rubber stamp for the city. There is going to be blood running this new year and we fully expect a lot of early
retirements from the city administration.
The word is out on the street that a couple of new law
suits will be filed against the city after the first of the
year and after city manager David Frasher’s action of restricting the amount of information allowed to the budget committee, a possible ACLU suit will be filed.
I wonder what would have happened if someone thought the kids were too fat?
The parents are definitely goofy, make no mistake about my OPINION here.
But, the government also forcibly kidnapped the kids, and without a trial of the parents by a jury of their peers. If the custody of the children was for criminal neglect, there should have been a criminal trial.
The use of these kangaroo civil courts because judges and lawyers are too lazy is no excuse, it deprives people of their liberty without due process and it sows the seeds of insurrection as evidenced by these goofball parents.
Whatever happened to that land sale investigation involving that former city official (city manager or city attorney)??? I know a retired judge was appointed to bury, er, I mean, investigate the matter, but I haven't heard squat. And would you know just which properties were in question or where to look to find out?
The word is out on the street that a couple of new law suits will be filed against the city after the first of the year and after city manager David Frashers action of restricting the amount of information allowed to the budget committee...
I wonder what is going to shake out on the county level. There is only one commissioner trustworthy out of the three total and she was just elected despite the little illegal "truth squad" maneuver by the other two, the county treasurer and the sheriff. (I am so disappointed by the sheriff in this particular matter, Gil was a good soldier.)
That would be "Useless" Stapleton, the ex-city attorney who took an early retirement because the heat was getting to high.
It was over some property he owned out near 238 that he sold easements to the city for a new bike path. The "Judge" cleared him of any wrong doing but it was in fact a cover up by the powers to be....the Judge was paid seven grand for his conclusions. As for the new county commissioner, she unfortunately has the brains of a sparrow and doesn't have a clue on how this county is run. She really thinks timber is going to come back which is delusional. All the mills are gone that could have handled the larger logs. Right now 70% of the mills are closed or running much reduced shifts here in Oregon and the demand for timber is all most non-existent. The timber money from Congress was the only, and I repeat, the only financing for the Sheriffs department for decades. Not one dime of county money when into the legal system here in the county and she thinks that it's going to come back? She's dreaming. Our present sheriff is the best one we've had in the last thirty years.
I agree. Gil is a good man, no doubt about that. His involvement in that illegal press conference is totally disappointing though. I really don't like any of the others involved in it one bit, no matter how inept the newly elected commissioner may or may not be (I have a few secrets of my own here on the others that I am holding real close to my chest.)
Most all local governments have become very corrupt.
The attitudes of these over paid government employees working inside of these government buildings, well they have mastered the art of arrogance.
I could tell you some stories of some of these people that work in our courts, DMVs etc. It's just unbelievable how these over paid tax parasites treat the citizens that are paying for their generous salaries and opulent retirement pensions.
Hard to believe everyone has put up with this BS for so long.
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