An open letter to councilwoman Ford

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Dear Councilwoman Ford:
It was amazing, yet gratifying, to hear that you sometimes read some of the city council blogs. I certainly hope that this is one of them. I say “amazing” because it has been the explicitly stated position of past councils that they ignore blogs, The Middletown Journal’s “Sound Off” features, and all other similar public commentary sources since they are nothing more than “misinformation spread by people hiding behind anonymity”. (Of course you might notice that I always post over my true name.)
I was very pleased to hear that you and the rest of council “know what time it is.” What I wonder is how often you folks look at your watch. “Confidence” is wonderful. A “positive attitude” is a good thing. “Looking forward” is likewise an asset as it behooves us to try to be prepared. BUT (there’s always a “but”, isn’t there?), those traits must be tempered at most times by healthy doses of skepticism, awareness of limitations, and knowledge of the past.
As I’ve stated many times in various blogs about this city and its leaders, a problem cannot be fixed if it has not been identified. Unfortunately, at Middletown’s city hall “not looking back” usually means “someone really screwed up, but we better sweep it under the carpet so we won’t have to ‘fix the problem’”!
Usually it is all about either POWER or MONEY. As with the whole Section 8 debacle, it all started with POWER! “We don’t want to give up control!” was the stated by council members more than any other reason for the entire ordeal. (Don’t believe me? I’d be pleased to send several links to articles, meeting minutes, etc. wherein council members explicitly so state!) What's wrong with that?? City council never HAD control of this program!!! How can they possibly “give up” something that they’ve never had? One MUST “look back” at the record to fully understand this.
So, why are we taxpayers spending MORE just to enable city council to “NOT GIVE UP” something which they’ve NEVER HAD???  And is that the main "problem"??
Why has council “never had” control? Because CONTROL is POWER! Ergo, when someone else got control (due to past city commissions) they also “did not want to give up control”! Why? Because CONTROL equals POWER! Find the person who had CONTROL over this contract and you will be looking STRAIGHT at the reason why council never HAD control, as well as the reason why the number of vouchers has RISEN!!! More vouchers = more MONEY = more POWER = more CONTROL!! Unfortunately, one MUST “look back” to unravel this mess, and NO ONE at city hall wants to do so! I don’t blame them, since this same, or at least similar, scenario has been playing out over and over and over for years in this city--not only by the same individual, but by many!!! 
NO ONE “looks back”, NO ONE loses CONTROL/POWER, therefore NOTHING CHANGES!!! 
And nothing ever will as long as council keeps acting in the same way. Keep doing the same thing over and over, and you will get the same result over and over--a continuing downward spiral!
You MUST “look back”, nail down “the problems”, make CHANGES (no matter how difficult, including dismissal for cause, if necessary) and allow our city to CHANGE its direction!
Regards,
Mike Presta
Citizen
PS: You, personally, are allowed to speak up, and even DISAGREE with other council members! In fact, you are REQUIRED to do so, if you -- in good faith -- believe that they are in error. That is your DUTY as a public official.

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Mike_Presta Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mike_Presta Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: An open letter to councilwoman Ford Posted: Jan 07 2009 at 11:01am
	Dear Councilwoman Ford: It was amazing, yet gratifying, to hear that you sometimes read some of the city council blogs. I certainly hope that this is one of them. I say “amazing” because it has been the explicitly stated position of past councils that they ignore blogs, The Middletown Journal’s “Sound Off” features, and all other similar public commentary sources since they are nothing more than “misinformation spread by people hiding behind anonymity”. (Of course you might notice that I always post over my true name.) I was very pleased to hear that you and the rest of council “know what time it is.” What I wonder is how often you folks look at your watch. “Confidence” is wonderful. A “positive attitude” is a good thing. “Looking forward” is likewise an asset as it behooves us to try to be prepared. BUT (there’s always a “but”, isn’t there?), those traits must be tempered at most times by healthy doses of skepticism, awareness of limitations, and knowledge of the past. As I’ve stated many times in various blogs about this city and its leaders, a problem cannot be fixed if it has not been identified. Unfortunately, at Middletown’s city hall “not looking back” usually means “someone really screwed up, but we better sweep it under the carpet so we won’t have to ‘fix the problem’”! Usually it is all about either POWER or MONEY. As with the whole Section 8 debacle, it all started with POWER! “We don’t want to give up control!” was the stated by council members more than any other reason for the entire ordeal. (Don’t believe me? I’d be pleased to send several links to articles, meeting minutes, etc. wherein council members explicitly so state!) What's wrong with that?? City council never HAD control of this program!!! How can they possibly “give up” something that they’ve never had? One MUST “look back” at the record to fully understand this. So, why are we taxpayers spending MORE just to enable city council to “NOT GIVE UP” something which they’ve NEVER HAD??? And is that the main "problem"?? Why has council “never had” control? Because CONTROL is POWER! Ergo, when someone else got control (due to past city commissions) they also “did not want to give up control”! Why? Because CONTROL equals POWER! Find the person who had CONTROL over this contract and you will be looking STRAIGHT at the reason why council never HAD control, as well as the reason why the number of vouchers has RISEN!!! More vouchers = more MONEY = more POWER = more CONTROL!! Unfortunately, one MUST “look back” to unravel this mess, and NO ONE at city hall wants to do so! I don’t blame them, since this same, or at least similar, scenario has been playing out over and over and over for years in this city--not only by the same individual, but by many!!! NO ONE “looks back”, NO ONE loses CONTROL/POWER, therefore NOTHING CHANGES!!! And nothing ever will as long as council keeps acting in the same way. Keep doing the same thing over and over, and you will get the same result over and over--a continuing downward spiral! You MUST “look back”, nail down “the problems”, make CHANGES (no matter how difficult, including dismissal for cause, if necessary) and allow our city to CHANGE its direction! Regards, Mike Presta Citizen PS: You, personally, are allowed to speak up, and even DISAGREE with other council members! In fact, you are REQUIRED to do so, if you -- in good faith -- believe that they are in error. That is your DUTY as a public official.