It was election, not rule changes, that split council | Letter to the Editor

The rule changes didn’t split the Black Diamond City Council, as you reported; the election did.

The rule changes didn’t split the Black Diamond City Council, as you reported; the election did.

Last fall the mayor and four incumbents campaigned for the status quo. Their incumbent favorites (Ron) Taylor and (Craig) Goodwin lost big, garnering about 30 percent of the vote. Some of us wrote letters to your paper warning the mayor that it wouldn’t be a good idea to endorse one side or the other. She did, and lost big.

The mayor’s behavior at the first council meeting of the year was abysmal. She gave a big block of the council’s time to YarrowBay’s dog and pony show. She offered up her committee appointments without even consulting with the newly elected council members. She gave Janie Edelman control of the Growth Management Committee. Then, when the council offered an amendment to appoint their own members, she declared that only she had the authority to create committees, and only she could unilaterally remove items from the council’s agenda, which she proceeded to do on every other issue when one of the newly elected council members offered an amendment that she didn’t like.

Folks, I voted for a mayor-council, aka “strong mayor,” form of government, but I didn’t vote for a “dictator-council” form of government.

Bryan Stites

Black Diamond