Something happened at the February 26, 2008 Longmont City Council meeting that so far has gone unreported, and is very troubling. A video of it can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeTDvIyK6WM and at www.wrongmont.com.

Let me set the stage, as the video alone may not explain it all. Late into the meeting around 10:30pm, the council was voting for members of various boards in the city. First, there was some discussion on the nominees, a motion, and a vote by a show of hands. When it was time for the Cable Trust Board, the eligibility of one of the nominees, Charlie Fellenbaum, was discussed followed by a motion by Councilmember Santos that Stephanie Baum be appointed to this board, followed by a second, then a call for a vote. Here's where it got interesting.

Councilmembers Blue, Santos, Hansen, and Mayor Lange raised their hands, signaling a majority of council. Turn the volume up and you then hear Councilmember Benker saying " NO". As the camera changes angles, she's clearly saying that towards Mr. Hansen, hand still in the air. Mayor Lange looks exasperated as he says " Hey Karen?!" as she's clearly out of order. Yet she just takes over the discussion, clearly angry over what just happened. She goes on to comment about Mr. Fellenbaum, who wasn't the subject of the vote, and even claims he has " more interest than the other candidate"! She ends her tantrum by throwing herself back towards her chair in disgust. Mayor Lange rightly points out that there was a motion, and a vote.

Hopefully most of you see what's wrong here, but since I know some of you will defend some of these councilmembers no matter what, I guess I have to explain it. I don't have my Roberts Rules of Order handy, but this was so blatantly out of line it's not even funny. How often do you see councilmembers, during a vote, telling other councilmembers how to vote? Never for me. The Mayor is the chair of this committee, Karen Benker wasn't recognized by the chair, the chair was making it clear with his words and body language that he was not thrilled with her behavior. Didn't stop her though, did it?

So, was Brian Hansen expected to vote a certain way? It's not inconceivable that he misheard Fellenbaum for Stephanie Baum. But what if he really meant to vote the way he did, who is Karen Benker to tell him " NO"? I thought each member was independent? I haven't harped on this " Benker 4" or " bloc of 4" since the election, figuring I'd evaluate each one separately. And some members of council have been making noise about the general public tearing into the new members. Do you want to know why? THIS is why. The point was just proven.

In a private letter to Brian Hansen, who is my ward's councilmember, this is what I said about this so-called 'bloc': " The accusation and assumption (of a bloc) is a lack of independence by individual members, and a vote-by-committee agreement or arrangement. What transpired Tuesday night only reinforces that mindset."

So what was reinforced? The opinion that, a) certain councilmembers pre-coordinate votes as a group, b) perhaps their nominee was a plant - who on council knows him? What were the circumstances of his nomination? I'll leave it to someone else to connect the dots, and there are dots. c) Don't cross the group or show independence without pre-coordinating that - or face the wrath, television cameras or not, and, d) parliamentary rules be damned, there's an agenda to be pushed.

Personally, I'm getting pretty tired of councilmembers like Sean McCoy and his weekly insults (that now include the Times-Call and its TC-Line) and whining about citizens perceptions of the new council. Those perceptions now have some base in reality, as proven above. So please, tell me, with a straight face, that you don't discuss as a group upcoming votes. That you think it's alright to skirt the rules plenty of other councils have abided by. That it's okay to tell other members how to vote during a meeting. This is a disgrace.

One thing I try to keep in mind, especially with my kids, is that it's easy to remember the truth - there's only one version of it. But when you are scheming behind the scenes, and there are a few people involved, it's not as easy to keep your ducks in a row, now is it?

©2008 Chris Rodriguez/Wrongmont.Com
(Chris Rodriguez is a Longmont resident, and the editor and publisher of Wrongmont.Com, a community website that raises local issues to increase public awareness and interest)