The meeting started about 5:30, with the invocation given by Councilman Scott Giddings. I arrived about five minutes late and missed this. There were maybe 15-20 citizens and visitors present (and Tribune Herald reporter Erin Quinn). The Council then went into Executive Session until 6:29 pm, then (back in open session) a motion was made (by Scott Giddings, seconded by Gil Lillard) to retain independent outside counsel to review the allegations against the City Manager/Police Chief. The motion passed by unanimous vote. Mayor Weber then read a statement (with copies to the media):
"The multitude of various allegations raised against the City Manager/Police Chief led to an internal City review which found no basis for any of the matters as alleged. The City Council, however, believes it is in the best interests of the City to request an external review of these allegations to remove any doubts some might raise about the veracity of the internal review. We have thus decided to engage outside independent counsel to conduct a separate review and, upon completion, provide a report to the City Council. Thereafter, a summary of the findings prepared with the assistance of the independent outside counsel will be provided to the citizens of Woodway. The outside counsel we hope to hire is Barney Knight, who has extensive experience in municipal law and is very familiar with how Texas municipalities operate. This is a personnel matter and on advice of legal counsel there will be no further comment at this time."
The Mayor did ask the audience, who had waited in the lobby during the Executive Session, if there were questions or statements from visitors, though this was not an agenda item.
Rodney Kroll asked about the proposed outside counsel’s background in financial matters, and whether an audit would be included in the review. He also stated that the citizens of Woodway were very tired of all this.
Barbara Tennison said that she was on the Council when the decision to hire Yost Zakhary as City Manager was made. The Council at that time recognized his skills in management. Having observed his performance over the past ten years, she remains confident that it was the right decision. She asked the new Council members to have the courage that, when the review comes back “clean as a whistle”, to keep the City management just as it is.
The meeting adjourned about 6:50 pm. The next regular meeting (the only one scheduled at this point) is Monday, July 12th (two weeks away).
What I would add: The Council approached this issue with a great deal of care and forethought, and with much consultation with the City Attorneys. We arrived at an approach and identified outside counsel that we feel will accomplish an efficient, credible review reasonably quickly and at a modest cost to the City. The unanimous vote represents the Council's confidence that these allegations will be effectively dealt with.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Special meeting June 28th
A special meeting of the City Council is scheduled for next Monday (June 28th), as announced on the City website here. This meeting will almost entirely be an executive session, for "Discussion and (to) consider action regarding retention of outside counsel to consult with the City Council and review allegations against City Manager/Police Chief." The Council is seeking to deal efficiently, yet fairly and effectively, with the allegations that have been made. Hopefully, the results will be available in the not-too-distant future, and I believe the Council's intent will be to disclose the outcome publicly.
Annual Boards & Commissions Appreciation Dinner
Once each year, the City of Woodway hosts a banquet to honor the service of the many volunteers on the boards and commissions. Tonight was this year's banquet, held at the Ridgewood Country Club. There were many people I knew and many that I did not, so it was a great time to both say hello and to meet new people. There are six boards and commissions: Parks and Recreation, Planning and Zoning, the Board of Adjustment, the Arboretum board, Woodway Beautiful and the Youth Commission. City Manager Yost Zakhary had the members of each board or commission stand to be recognized, and aptly concluded: "Volunteers are not paid, not because they are worthless but because they are priceless." It was short and sweet; the entire event was over in less than 90 minutes.
The event was organized by several of the City staff (see photo), who were also recognized for their service. More pictures of the event are here.
(left to right): Kasia Redden (Executive Secretary, Community Services), Donna Barkley (Administrative Assistant) and Jennifer Canady (City Secretary).
The event was organized by several of the City staff (see photo), who were also recognized for their service. More pictures of the event are here.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Summer concert #4: The MuddCatts
Tonight's concert enjoyed great weather and started right on time, with Family Center/Arboretum Director Janet Schaffer introducing the MuddCatts. Most of the show was Beatles' oldies, complete with British-accent dialog/trivia by guitarist "John Lennon" (Mark Nix, a life-long Texan). They did 45 minutes of rather good Beatles tunes, with pieces from throughout the entire history of the band (which recorded >200 songs, the number 432 was mentioned).
Then the most amazing thing happened: Elvis showed up! (see photographic evidence below) He did Blue Suede Shoes, Burnin' Love, Suspicious Minds, but then came the inevitable letdown: he admitted he wasn't the real Elvis. He (John Mandell) went on to give a touching tribute to the life of "the king". An Elvis medley followed, accompanied by a chorus of maybe a thousand Woodway crickets. The concert ended around 9:30 pm with an Elvis/Beatles medley, and an expression of appreciation for the Woodway DPS and the Arboretum. The band stayed for photos and autographs, despite the warm weather and their bulky "get-ups" (their term for the signature Beatles suits they wore). The MuddCatts do private gigs, and their website is here. This was my all-time favorite Summer Concert.
Next week: The Elephants (see their website here).
Elvis lives! And he tours with The Beatles. Who would have guessed?
Then the most amazing thing happened: Elvis showed up! (see photographic evidence below) He did Blue Suede Shoes, Burnin' Love, Suspicious Minds, but then came the inevitable letdown: he admitted he wasn't the real Elvis. He (John Mandell) went on to give a touching tribute to the life of "the king". An Elvis medley followed, accompanied by a chorus of maybe a thousand Woodway crickets. The concert ended around 9:30 pm with an Elvis/Beatles medley, and an expression of appreciation for the Woodway DPS and the Arboretum. The band stayed for photos and autographs, despite the warm weather and their bulky "get-ups" (their term for the signature Beatles suits they wore). The MuddCatts do private gigs, and their website is here. This was my all-time favorite Summer Concert.
Next week: The Elephants (see their website here).
Elvis lives! And he tours with The Beatles. Who would have guessed?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Summer concert #3: Sandusky Classic Rock Review
Tonight was the third of the summer concert series, the six-person band Sandusky. Actually, this was the first full concert, since the first one (The Morticians) only made it to the fourth song before the weather got too bad, and the second (The Elephants) was canceled entirely due to weather. This time the weather was great, if perhaps a little warm. The concert got started just after 8 pm, with a quick introduction by City Manager Yost Zakhary. There was a full crowd, maybe 150 (?), and Mayor Bill Weber was present too. The first song was China Road, then Pretty Woman, Crocodile Rock...you get the idea, its classic rock. Or mostly, because they did do at least two country and western songs, "All my Exs" (George Strait) and "Mama He's Crazy" (The Judds). It went until 9:15 and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Sandusky also does private gigs, so if you are interested, learn more at their website here.
Next week (June 23) is the MuddCatts, and the following week (June 30) is The Elephants, rescheduled from their original June 9th date.
Next week (June 23) is the MuddCatts, and the following week (June 30) is The Elephants, rescheduled from their original June 9th date.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Oncor Smart-Meter demos at HEB June 16 & 17
The new Oncor Smart Meters and associated technology will be demonstrated this week at the Woodway HEB on
Wednesday, June 16, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
and
Thursday, June 17, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
The mobile demonstration center will be in the HEB parking lot. There will be giveaways too. One aspect of the change that you might want to ask about is whether electricity will now cost more during peak hours (and less off-peak), and by how much. Until now, all power usage was charged at the same rate no matter what time of day. The Oncor promotional document for the event is given below.
Wednesday, June 16, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
and
Thursday, June 17, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
The mobile demonstration center will be in the HEB parking lot. There will be giveaways too. One aspect of the change that you might want to ask about is whether electricity will now cost more during peak hours (and less off-peak), and by how much. Until now, all power usage was charged at the same rate no matter what time of day. The Oncor promotional document for the event is given below.
Monday, June 14, 2010
The June 14th meeting
Note: Updated 6/16, 6/22 and 6/23 in Visitor comments section regarding allegation against Karen O'Bric.
The meeting began at 5:30 with a packed room, chaired by Mayor Bill Weber. Mayor pro tem Gil Lillard gave the invocation, then the Yard of the Month awards were given. Mayor Weber was assisted by Woodway Beautiful Commission member Jan Burnett. The awards were given to the Eaton, Owen, Henry and Walker families. These awards are always well-deserved, because Woodway has lots of tough competition for beautiful yards. Thanks also to the Woodway Beautiful Commission for their work on this.
Then all the Council members gave brief introductions of themselves, which were interesting. Councilman Scott Giddings is in the granite tombstone/grave marker business, and he noted that "people are dying to get his products"!
Then there was a presentation of the proposed budget for next year by Yost Zakhary. A sales tax shortfall of about $200k is expected due to the poor economy. The City is mandated by law to have a balanced budget. I gather that surplus funds can be used if necessary to get through lean times without raising taxes, but the City needs to keep in reserve enough extra funds to operate for 90 days to maintain our excellent bond rating. The City currently has funds to operate for 131 days with no income. But the Water Fund is required by ordinance to be self-sustaining, so the City staff were recommending a water rate increase of $0.25 - 0.50 per 1000 gallons to cover the expected shortfall in that fund. I believe that even with this increase, Woodway water would remain less expensive than about half of the surrounding communities. The Council members have budget meetings scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. There will be a public hearing on the finalized proposed budget on Monday, August 16th at 5:30 pm at Woodway City Hall.
The next item of business was the "consent agenda", which included approval of the minutes of last meeting, approval of Robert's Rules of Order (finally!), and to approve Woodway remaining on the Steering Committee for cities served by Oncor. Membership gives us some clout with Oncor and especially access to specialized legal council. The cost appears to be $0.10 per resident, or a total of $881.40. All three items were approved unanimously, with one minor change to the minutes.
The next item was to decide whether or not to authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with the MESA Design Associates, Inc., for planning and landscape architectural services related to the new event pavilion for the Carleen Bright Arboretum. This includes five tasks: (1) schematic design, (2) design development, (3) construction documents, (4) bidding assistance, and (5) construction observation. The cost of fully developing these plans is not to exceed $259,200. The action was approved unanimously (followed by applause). The full cost of the project is thought to be around $3 million, and whether or how to finance that will be the subject of future discussions. There are several options, including a bond issue that would be voted on by Woodway residents.
Next, Bob Wallace of the Wallace Group discussed what would be involved trying to bring the Highway 84 well back into service. This well was first put into service in April 2007, ran 6-9 months before the pump locked up with "scale" (insoluble mineral deposits). Chemical analysis showed high calcium levels. So a special one-of-a-kind injection system to add sodium hexametaphosphate, a chemical used to prevent scale (and is safe to use in drinking water), was prepared, but the new pump shut down again before it could be put into use. Another firm was hired to "acidize" the well, but this may have been done poorly because the next pump ran only about 3 hrs before stopping, because of extensive rust deposits from the casing pipe. So much more extensive cleaning of the well is needed, but Mr. Wallace believes the chances of success are good (if an initial water test looks OK). Well water is valuable enough that the > $ 1 million cost of drilling a new well typically gets paid back in 7-10 years. In this case, the well cleanup is expected to be less than $200k, and getting a reliable water test (the first step) should cost less than $30k. The Council unanimously approved the cost of the water testing phase.
An entirely new well project (Cactus Drive, near the Holiday Inn on Hwy 84) was discussed as a long-term project, total cost expected to be about $4 million.
The next item was appointments to the Carleen Bright Arboretum Board, an item I had asked for after receiving a request from Dean Haun, the Chair of the Arboretum Board, to make one more appointment. The matter was referred to the yet-to-be constituted Nomination Committee.
The City Manager's Report
It was announced that a new City Engineer (Mitch Davidson) had been hired, and will start on June 21st. The previous City Engineer, Nick Clark, will come back as needed on an hourly basis to help accomplish a smooth transition.
Microsurfacing of the following streets began recently or will soon: Alto, Elmwood, Rockford, Sleepy Hollow and Oak Hill.
Someone has volunteered to haul away "paving and base material" from street resurfacing, at no charge to the City. The City Attorney recommended a check on possible liability first.
White residue on dishes in areas serviced by the Bosque well (which is currently using Waco water) can be removed by treatment with vinegar added to the dishwasher. I suspect this is calcium carbonate, a harmless material.
Woodway received the county-wide award for Recycling City of the Year, and the Woodway Beautiful Commission received that county-wide award for Innovative Education for the 2010 Gardener's Gathering. City Staff member Kaisa Redden and Woodway Beautiful's Jan Burnett were instrumental in the City's efforts to win these awards.
The City is currently working on getting audio visual equipment to record the Council meetings for the website, possibly even for live broadcast.
At 7:09 pm, the Council went into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. This session ended at 8:42 pm, at which time a 10-minute recess was called. Many residents had been waiting the entire 3+ hours for a chance to speak at the meeting, and several later expressed dismay at being relegated to the end of the meeting. This change was probably a response to the rancorous tone of the first two meetings, which I sense has subsided somewhat (see visitors comments below), so I think it should be moved to the beginning again, and I'll suggest that.
So at 8:49, the first visitor began speaking. I hope I get the spelling correct and at least the gist of each person's comments. The agenda stated specifically that the Council would not respond and that each person's remarks should be kept to 3 minutes (which often didn't happen).
Linc Harris has been in Woodway 11 years and praised the DPS, garbage service and city infrastructure. He spoke of the considerate calls Yost Zakhary makes to his bank when possible problems arise. He felt that a vocal minority in Woodway had awaken the majority, and that having to wait in the foyer so long to speak was poor policy.
Former Council member Robert Humphrey gave a handout then began to speak. It had come to his attention that the former Arboretum Manager had allowed the Baylor Track Team to use the Arboretum facility nine times free of charge, as described in the handout. Since individual rentals are in the $300-500 range, this amounts to $2700-4500 of lost revenue to the City. Mr. Humphrey asked the Council to investigate this matter, especially in light of the anticipated tight budget year.
Note: Two days after the meeting, all the Council members received a letter from Mr. O'Bric explaining that all large donors to the Arboretum are granted one free use of the facility each year. According to the letter, as a major donor ($13,843) to the Arboretum, Karen O'Bric was entitled to this and used it for the Baylor track team each of the past nine years. Set-up and cleanup were done at no expense to the City, which was not always the case with other "free" users of the facility. Apparently the current track team leadership did not realize that this free use of the facility had been a gift, and upon contacting the current Arboretum management, confusion on both sides apparently led to the accusation against Mrs. O'Bric.
Note added 6/22: Before posting the note above, I verified with Yost Zakhary that large donors to the Arboretum are indeed granted one free rental each year. He did not know if Karen O'Bric was on the list of large donors.
Note added 6/23: Yost Zakhary emailed me a clarification this afternoon - "The only large donors who receive a free rental each year are those who were the founders and made a large donation prior to 1998. Karen is not on that list of founders. If she made a large donation after that time, as others have, she was only entitled to a one time free rental."
The next visitor, Mark Woodward, said he appreciated the tax rate being held steady, but in light of rising assessments (he said his home valuation was increased by 41% last year and 21% this year) he thought perhaps the City should consider a property tax rebate to the citizens. He also thought that the City Council's photos and description of their accomplishments that was in the May-June issue of Woodway Today (mailed in mid-to-late April) constituted an inappropriate political advertisement and would more appropriately have been published after the election rather than before. He also suggested that Council term limits be considered.
Bob Hickock has been in Woodway since 1974, and said to the new Council members "Don't screw it up [referring to the quality of life in Woodway], and do not base anything on unproven allegations." He especially thought that allegations of misuse of equipment or poor maintenance of equipment were unfounded.
Jim Ross read prepared comments to the effect that recent allegations were unfounded and the result of a personal vendetta or grudge. He said that citizens have a right to know what the Council is doing about this now, and encouraged a demand for evidence, to deal with the issues and move on for the good of the City's image. He thanked Yost Zakhary for his service to the City and asked him to not resign. He also mentioned that being relegated to the end of the meeting was poor policy. The audience applauded.
Ed Fadal has been a Woodway resident since 1974, and initially had a disagreement with Mr. Zakhary over a sewer line. But since then they have become friends. He stated a desire for the truth, not any one person's version of it, and asked whether an inquiry was being done. He then said there was a lot of animosity toward the new council members because none had volunteered for the City before and they are "completely unqualified" because of lack of experience. He will do everything in his power to promptly resolve the current controversy.
Finally, De Smith spoke to say that this would be the last time for awhile that she would address the Council. Audits and investigations take money, when it is so simple from a woman's point of view. Why doesn't Mike O'Bric have to prove his case rather than the City have to prove the allegations are untrue? De went on to say that she was frustrated after the election but had found a place to serve on the Planning and Zoning Board. She finished by saying, "Thank you for the change I have already seen, and I hope to see more.", which was followed by applause from the audience.
The meeting adjourned at 9:13 pm. I spoke with several residents afterward, including former Councilmen Robert Humphrey and Rodney Kroll.
The meeting began at 5:30 with a packed room, chaired by Mayor Bill Weber. Mayor pro tem Gil Lillard gave the invocation, then the Yard of the Month awards were given. Mayor Weber was assisted by Woodway Beautiful Commission member Jan Burnett. The awards were given to the Eaton, Owen, Henry and Walker families. These awards are always well-deserved, because Woodway has lots of tough competition for beautiful yards. Thanks also to the Woodway Beautiful Commission for their work on this.
Then all the Council members gave brief introductions of themselves, which were interesting. Councilman Scott Giddings is in the granite tombstone/grave marker business, and he noted that "people are dying to get his products"!
Then there was a presentation of the proposed budget for next year by Yost Zakhary. A sales tax shortfall of about $200k is expected due to the poor economy. The City is mandated by law to have a balanced budget. I gather that surplus funds can be used if necessary to get through lean times without raising taxes, but the City needs to keep in reserve enough extra funds to operate for 90 days to maintain our excellent bond rating. The City currently has funds to operate for 131 days with no income. But the Water Fund is required by ordinance to be self-sustaining, so the City staff were recommending a water rate increase of $0.25 - 0.50 per 1000 gallons to cover the expected shortfall in that fund. I believe that even with this increase, Woodway water would remain less expensive than about half of the surrounding communities. The Council members have budget meetings scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. There will be a public hearing on the finalized proposed budget on Monday, August 16th at 5:30 pm at Woodway City Hall.
The next item of business was the "consent agenda", which included approval of the minutes of last meeting, approval of Robert's Rules of Order (finally!), and to approve Woodway remaining on the Steering Committee for cities served by Oncor. Membership gives us some clout with Oncor and especially access to specialized legal council. The cost appears to be $0.10 per resident, or a total of $881.40. All three items were approved unanimously, with one minor change to the minutes.
The next item was to decide whether or not to authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with the MESA Design Associates, Inc., for planning and landscape architectural services related to the new event pavilion for the Carleen Bright Arboretum. This includes five tasks: (1) schematic design, (2) design development, (3) construction documents, (4) bidding assistance, and (5) construction observation. The cost of fully developing these plans is not to exceed $259,200. The action was approved unanimously (followed by applause). The full cost of the project is thought to be around $3 million, and whether or how to finance that will be the subject of future discussions. There are several options, including a bond issue that would be voted on by Woodway residents.
Next, Bob Wallace of the Wallace Group discussed what would be involved trying to bring the Highway 84 well back into service. This well was first put into service in April 2007, ran 6-9 months before the pump locked up with "scale" (insoluble mineral deposits). Chemical analysis showed high calcium levels. So a special one-of-a-kind injection system to add sodium hexametaphosphate, a chemical used to prevent scale (and is safe to use in drinking water), was prepared, but the new pump shut down again before it could be put into use. Another firm was hired to "acidize" the well, but this may have been done poorly because the next pump ran only about 3 hrs before stopping, because of extensive rust deposits from the casing pipe. So much more extensive cleaning of the well is needed, but Mr. Wallace believes the chances of success are good (if an initial water test looks OK). Well water is valuable enough that the > $ 1 million cost of drilling a new well typically gets paid back in 7-10 years. In this case, the well cleanup is expected to be less than $200k, and getting a reliable water test (the first step) should cost less than $30k. The Council unanimously approved the cost of the water testing phase.
An entirely new well project (Cactus Drive, near the Holiday Inn on Hwy 84) was discussed as a long-term project, total cost expected to be about $4 million.
The next item was appointments to the Carleen Bright Arboretum Board, an item I had asked for after receiving a request from Dean Haun, the Chair of the Arboretum Board, to make one more appointment. The matter was referred to the yet-to-be constituted Nomination Committee.
The City Manager's Report
It was announced that a new City Engineer (Mitch Davidson) had been hired, and will start on June 21st. The previous City Engineer, Nick Clark, will come back as needed on an hourly basis to help accomplish a smooth transition.
Microsurfacing of the following streets began recently or will soon: Alto, Elmwood, Rockford, Sleepy Hollow and Oak Hill.
Someone has volunteered to haul away "paving and base material" from street resurfacing, at no charge to the City. The City Attorney recommended a check on possible liability first.
White residue on dishes in areas serviced by the Bosque well (which is currently using Waco water) can be removed by treatment with vinegar added to the dishwasher. I suspect this is calcium carbonate, a harmless material.
Woodway received the county-wide award for Recycling City of the Year, and the Woodway Beautiful Commission received that county-wide award for Innovative Education for the 2010 Gardener's Gathering. City Staff member Kaisa Redden and Woodway Beautiful's Jan Burnett were instrumental in the City's efforts to win these awards.
The City is currently working on getting audio visual equipment to record the Council meetings for the website, possibly even for live broadcast.
At 7:09 pm, the Council went into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. This session ended at 8:42 pm, at which time a 10-minute recess was called. Many residents had been waiting the entire 3+ hours for a chance to speak at the meeting, and several later expressed dismay at being relegated to the end of the meeting. This change was probably a response to the rancorous tone of the first two meetings, which I sense has subsided somewhat (see visitors comments below), so I think it should be moved to the beginning again, and I'll suggest that.
So at 8:49, the first visitor began speaking. I hope I get the spelling correct and at least the gist of each person's comments. The agenda stated specifically that the Council would not respond and that each person's remarks should be kept to 3 minutes (which often didn't happen).
Linc Harris has been in Woodway 11 years and praised the DPS, garbage service and city infrastructure. He spoke of the considerate calls Yost Zakhary makes to his bank when possible problems arise. He felt that a vocal minority in Woodway had awaken the majority, and that having to wait in the foyer so long to speak was poor policy.
Former Council member Robert Humphrey gave a handout then began to speak. It had come to his attention that the former Arboretum Manager had allowed the Baylor Track Team to use the Arboretum facility nine times free of charge, as described in the handout. Since individual rentals are in the $300-500 range, this amounts to $2700-4500 of lost revenue to the City. Mr. Humphrey asked the Council to investigate this matter, especially in light of the anticipated tight budget year.
Note: Two days after the meeting, all the Council members received a letter from Mr. O'Bric explaining that all large donors to the Arboretum are granted one free use of the facility each year. According to the letter, as a major donor ($13,843) to the Arboretum, Karen O'Bric was entitled to this and used it for the Baylor track team each of the past nine years. Set-up and cleanup were done at no expense to the City, which was not always the case with other "free" users of the facility. Apparently the current track team leadership did not realize that this free use of the facility had been a gift, and upon contacting the current Arboretum management, confusion on both sides apparently led to the accusation against Mrs. O'Bric.
Note added 6/22: Before posting the note above, I verified with Yost Zakhary that large donors to the Arboretum are indeed granted one free rental each year. He did not know if Karen O'Bric was on the list of large donors.
Note added 6/23: Yost Zakhary emailed me a clarification this afternoon - "The only large donors who receive a free rental each year are those who were the founders and made a large donation prior to 1998. Karen is not on that list of founders. If she made a large donation after that time, as others have, she was only entitled to a one time free rental."
The next visitor, Mark Woodward, said he appreciated the tax rate being held steady, but in light of rising assessments (he said his home valuation was increased by 41% last year and 21% this year) he thought perhaps the City should consider a property tax rebate to the citizens. He also thought that the City Council's photos and description of their accomplishments that was in the May-June issue of Woodway Today (mailed in mid-to-late April) constituted an inappropriate political advertisement and would more appropriately have been published after the election rather than before. He also suggested that Council term limits be considered.
Bob Hickock has been in Woodway since 1974, and said to the new Council members "Don't screw it up [referring to the quality of life in Woodway], and do not base anything on unproven allegations." He especially thought that allegations of misuse of equipment or poor maintenance of equipment were unfounded.
Jim Ross read prepared comments to the effect that recent allegations were unfounded and the result of a personal vendetta or grudge. He said that citizens have a right to know what the Council is doing about this now, and encouraged a demand for evidence, to deal with the issues and move on for the good of the City's image. He thanked Yost Zakhary for his service to the City and asked him to not resign. He also mentioned that being relegated to the end of the meeting was poor policy. The audience applauded.
Ed Fadal has been a Woodway resident since 1974, and initially had a disagreement with Mr. Zakhary over a sewer line. But since then they have become friends. He stated a desire for the truth, not any one person's version of it, and asked whether an inquiry was being done. He then said there was a lot of animosity toward the new council members because none had volunteered for the City before and they are "completely unqualified" because of lack of experience. He will do everything in his power to promptly resolve the current controversy.
Finally, De Smith spoke to say that this would be the last time for awhile that she would address the Council. Audits and investigations take money, when it is so simple from a woman's point of view. Why doesn't Mike O'Bric have to prove his case rather than the City have to prove the allegations are untrue? De went on to say that she was frustrated after the election but had found a place to serve on the Planning and Zoning Board. She finished by saying, "Thank you for the change I have already seen, and I hope to see more.", which was followed by applause from the audience.
The meeting adjourned at 9:13 pm. I spoke with several residents afterward, including former Councilmen Robert Humphrey and Rodney Kroll.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Agenda for the June 14th meeting
The Agenda for the next meeting (June 14th) of your City Council has been posted on the City of Woodway website linked here.
Council members are given somewhat more detailed information prior to each meeting, sometimes delivered by a DPS officer. I was honored to meet DPS officer Corporal Craig Bouse, who introduced me to his partner "Bo", the Woodway K9 "officer" (drug detection dog). Bo is a German Shepard trained to sniff out four major illicit drugs (marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine) and was partly responsible for a major bust (1900 lbs of marijuana) along I-35 just six weeks ago. The story (which fails to credit the Woodway officers involved) can be found here and here. Since many jurisdictions do not have their own K9 units, Woodway's unit assists some of the local areas.
Council members are given somewhat more detailed information prior to each meeting, sometimes delivered by a DPS officer. I was honored to meet DPS officer Corporal Craig Bouse, who introduced me to his partner "Bo", the Woodway K9 "officer" (drug detection dog). Bo is a German Shepard trained to sniff out four major illicit drugs (marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine) and was partly responsible for a major bust (1900 lbs of marijuana) along I-35 just six weeks ago. The story (which fails to credit the Woodway officers involved) can be found here and here. Since many jurisdictions do not have their own K9 units, Woodway's unit assists some of the local areas.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The first summer concert
The Summer Concert Series at the Arboretum began yesterday (Wednesday, June 2) with The Morticians. Yost Zakhary himself gave a good hometown introduction to the event, and the band began with "Green River" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Unfortunately, the weather was threatening from the beginning, and by the end of the fourth song (~8:20) it had begun to rain heavily enough that Mr. Zakhary concluded the event for safety reasons. As everyone filed out, Mr. Zakhary and another officer were directing traffic to maximize efficiency, giving the scene a small-town feel for the second time that day. The series continues for the next three weeks, all start at 8 pm:
June 9: The Elephants (new update: rescheduled)
June 16: Sandusky Classic Rock Review
June 23: MuddCatts
June 30: The Elephants
June 9: The Elephants (new update: rescheduled)
June 16: Sandusky Classic Rock Review
June 23: MuddCatts
June 30: The Elephants
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