Update below - omitted clip added
Was there a statement from the dais from Our Mayor Stocks? No congratulations for the new candidates or their campaigns or concession words were offered. Nothing at the beginning of the meeting where he has often spoken off the cuff or at the end in a personal word while reporting on boards. No, not even a statement following the several oral communications speakers whose comments contained election tactics, electorate reactions, compliments to the candidates, praise for Barth and chastising Stocks. Of course it is ridiculous after 12 years to expect grace or the high moral ground from Jerome. Zero . . . beyond, Thank you for your comments.
Sadly, the criteria for success for Stocks has become whether or not he was rude, patronizing or dismissive. By that standard this next to the last meeting was a success.
The rest of the meeting was devoted to financial housekeeping issues of no great importance for debate and discussion. Someone from the public did pull item #5 from the consent calendar (meaning general administrative issue). This item was a request by Crown Castle to mount a telecomunications device on the utility pole on Blue Heron Ave. The agenda packet describes this, but it was presented as simply a contract issue of an additional device. This meant no discussion of technical or functioning was supposed to be allowed. Although this makes sense in an efficient approach to addressing regular housekeeping chores; this kind of narrow agenda definition has been favored by the council majority for years to keep volatile public protest off limits.
The three clips that follow speak to the petitioning neighbors rejection of this staff recommendation for an added device. Their concerns are clearly laid out and at the most basic level ask they their concerns be taken seriously. As the Jennifer Brimley the last public speaker below so aptly states, "This is your community too and you represent us, not Crown Castle."
Jim Madaffer representing Crown Castle presents what is essentially an argument that says, this is inevitable so get used to it. Plus this rather specious claim that radiation is not the issue, the health and safety issue is having enough of these - for emergencies.
Finally in this lineup is the Jennifer Brimley clip that challenges the Crown Castle's dismissal of transmission concerns among other points. She cites "Full Signal" the documentary that exposes the underlying financial criteria for the proliferation of these devices under the guise of legitimate need. The documentary movie website states:
"Full Signal examines the contradiction between health and finance, one of the many ironies of the fight to regulate antenna placement."
Councilwoman Barth voted against this with the straightforward fact, "The need hasn't been demonstrated to me." She discussed the previous council discussions in Sept. concerning Castle Group and the reasoning for coverage. Her request for clarification from the expert brought the Catch 22 answer that you'll have to listen to yourself to decipher.
Update 11/18/12: The following clip was accidentally left off and has been embedded again.
The pettiness that the title of this post asserts is this. If the council majority would simply reject the recommendation, no dire consequences would follow beyond annoyance for the vendor and maybe the staff. There would be time for the new council to look at the petitioners' request regarding DAS in terms of views, property values and health concerns. A chance for staff and the Environmental Commission to review research and the documentary film Brimley cites.
Stocks and Bond had no compelling reason to disregard the public's request. They are finished. It was petty. And it typifies the 20 year history of voting against public will and public concerns on behalf of for-profit private sector interests.
Blog Note: The final days for Our Mayor Stocks and this blog using Jerome Stocks name and title will probably reflect his silent skulking. But, one never knows if the big shouty part of his demeanor will show itself in the next several weeks. There is no reason to believe Jerome will leave politics, so it's impossible to predict what's next.
