Catching up

Well I hope I'll have some time soon to post more topics here. The time comes at a cost though.

Unfortunately my long time, dear friend JoAnn passed away last Monday after a five month battle with cancer. I was a part of her support system during this time so am working my way through the mourning process as well as settling her affairs.

I'm not ready to talk about it too much yet but I have a lot of other topics we can discuss. This is what I'll be writing about soon;

1. Housing market and economy
2. Sewer plant effluent disposal
3. Water softening plant
4. El Dorado
5. Fillmore air quality and traffic

What's on your list?

**News** It looks like the City will be starting a community bulletin board. This is great news and should be an opportunity for feedback on issues. It will require registration which I hope will cut down on the unseemly and childish comments we've been exposed to here. I probably should have used the registration feature long ago. But frankly, I still find it hard to believe that adults would make some of the ridiculous comments that we have seen.

Re-org

What do you think of the City's new reorganization plan? Although the details are not out yet, it looks like there are some changes coming.

The biggest change was the announcmenet of Bill Bartels as the new Deputy City Manager. This was the "confidential employee" listed on the new budget during the recent budget hearings process.

Bill Bartels, like Tom Ristau, is a competent, likeable individual. He has experience and skills to bring to the community.

I hear from a lot of residents who are angry that none of our City management positions(City Manager, Public Works Director, Community Development Director, Finance Manager) are filled by local residents. I consider Bardsdale a part of our community so now we have a local manager.

With that said, along with an appreciation of Bill's "green" and recycling efforts, I have one question. Why wasn't this position publicly advertised? What if there are other capable locals who are currently commuting to other locales to work?

What we have heard from the City is that there are no qualified individuals for these management positions(or for sewer plant positions either).

I believe that Mark Austin, Vance Johnson, Doug Tucker - all current Planning Commissioners - work out of town. I don't know what they do or what their qualifications are but they should at least have an opportunity to apply for a position and eliminate commuting. And, I'm not saying that Diane McCall or Wallace Schaefle are not qualifed to apply for any positions. Just that I believe that they don't commute out of town.

Who knows what other talented individuals we have here who may be leaving town at 6:00 am to work elsewhere and don't return until 6:00 PM.

Was this opportunity for promotion given to Steve McClary? Steve is a dedicated, hardworking employee as well.

So, while I'm glad we have Bill Bartels in the position, I question the method of appointment.

What would it take?

It’s not easy listening to an opposing viewpoint, especially when the subject is politics or religion.
The discussion for one reason or another unfortunately turns emotional and common courtesy takes a holiday.

There are several topics facing Fillmore that seem to be powder kegs in an emotional sense.

Has Fillmore always felt so divided? What would it take to get both sides to sit down, air their differences and work together?

Disclaimer:
I am by no means saying that everyone has to agree, that would boring. I’m hopeful that your answers can be constructive and not hateful. Offering to tie persons to the train tracks is not considered constructive.