Over the past 20 years I have heard a lot of comments from the podium at public meetings that make my head turn, mostly from concerned citizens, but last week, Joe Kirby really had a zinger at the Charter Revision Commission Meeting.
Once you get past the commission calling Mike Zitterich by the wrong name for the first 20 minutes (they do this at every meeting, and it is becoming extremely condescending and annoying) they dive into asking Joe questions about his proposal of removing the mayor from the city council.
After board members Carl Xylophone and Anne Flapjack tried every excuse in the book to persuade Mr. Kirby from moving forward with this proposal thru the CRC process there was a moment of enlightenment.
Carl didn’t seem to think there was an issue with the Mayor being on the city council and he asks Joe why he thinks he should be removed from the council, and Kirby simply replies, “The mayor’s office has become autocratic.”
Mic drop.
As I suspected, his proposal will probably be voted down. And remember, his name is spelled KIRBY not DERBY for the permanent record.
“Autocratic”, it could explain my we have so many parking ramps in this town (….and car wash places, too….). I’ve heard of drive-bys, but drive-by government? It could be drive-by if they’re looking for zoning violations, I guess. But, “auto” could also suggest automatic, but if it has a stick, then wouldn’t it be autostick or autoshift, and definitely not automatic? What if the mayor’s name is Otto? Could it then be ottocratic and still automatic? AND, when you think about autocratic, automatic, and even automobile, you’re always talking about something or one thing taking you in one direction automatically and autocratically, especially if the autopilot can’t be stopped and the pilot’s name is Otto, and is a mayor who uses a governor to control, or has such ambitions, which could actually add a “ship”, that, too, could be automatic, or would that be autocratic (shipcratic? or shxtcratic?)? …..But then again, perhaps, this is just all nonsense, and I auto do something else with my time.
The voters chose Strong Mayor Charter in 1996. Citizens have come to realize this form of government is (indeed) authoritarian. Democracy was trashed in favor of making the mayor an autocratic ruler. The point then was the city had stalled because commissioners kept the city stagnant. Not true. It took longer to make good decisions leading the city in the proper direction. Each mayor since that time has made profound mistakes because of their inexperience and narcissist egos. Each year a 3/4 billion budget gets misdirected and RICO spent on insiders. Every contract takes twice as long and is triple market price. It’s organized crime voters made legal. What is especially disgusting is councilors are not ashamed to represent this form of government. True, they’re insignificant. The mayor is all powerful. It will take a petition and vote or SD Supreme Court intervention to restore democracy and rule of law.
It doesn’t help the mayor is a condescending . . .