WATCH OUT FOR YOUR RIGHTS..DON'T LET THEM BECOME "WRONGS!"

  

Here's an interesting glimpse into your Township officials...

For the last couple of Board meetings an agenda item regarding "number of complaints" has been on the menu, so to speak.  The item had been tabled to another meeting at least once due to time constraints.

At the last Board meeting, Supervisor Steve Madden acknowledged this as "his" item; he had requested that it be placed it on the agenda.  It turns out that the Supervisor who has publicly stated that Eureka public officials, both in general and even specifically, have violated the Constitution of the United States, no less, apparently thought it would be a "Good Idea" for the Township to limit the number of complaints that could be made by citizens.

Irony of ironies!  Supervisor Cory Behrendt stepped up to state to Mr. Madden, "I don't think you can do that.  I believe that would be unconstitutional!"  Attorney Chad Lemmons hastened to clarify that the Township cannot do such a thing.  If the same complaint were submitted after its already having been dealt with, the Township could reply, he said, by stating that no further action would be taken.

Of course, I would put forward that a perhaps similar but still different complaint on the same property (maybe different dates of additional alleged violations of the same type since the last complaint, for example) would necessitate the Board's looking into such a complaint as a "new" complaint. Otherwise, a hypothetical property owner could be given license, in my opinion, to continue to commit the same type of Ordinance violations!

Thankfully, more informed heads quickly prevailed to ensure your rights to Free Speech, but it shows me at least that the electorate needs to be ever-vigilant lest such indefensible positions be taken.  What if there were a Board in place that agreed with Supervisor Madden and an attorney were not present to set things straight?  That may seem far-fetched to you, but I, for one, certainly would not have envisioned this occurrence that I and others witnessed on November 10th at our Town Hall!


This again underlines for me the real need for public officials to attend training and information sessions.  And, perhaps, that it might be a good idea for citizens to attend a meeting now and again!