Equal Economic Impact is the Remedy to Crony Government

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Exactly. And the lesson here is that if there are private conversations

being held outside that chamber with private parties, it can ultimately undermine all the hard work that someone puts together to properly present before the commission. What I've learned is that if you're lobbying your own cause, you don't get ahead by following legal process in local government. Around here, they connect directly with the key players privately in the community and it's not uncommon for the city to take the word directly from "the old guys," instead of conducting a proper due diligence finding.

The swing vote is the newspapers. If they are on your side, you stand a chance. But, if they have already been turned by the insider group, they will squelch information that they feel is detrimental to the cause.

And, if I learned anything, it is to listen carefully to the city attorney. If he says the commission vote was not binding, to me it means that any talks that are going on in private conversations with "key players" are still viable.

In fact, it's always a good, preemptive move to ask for a public records request for the city attorney's timesheets. It's a way of knowing if there is any direct contact with other attorneys who represent the landowners, for example. And it's a way to determine if there is any legal research going on for subject matter that may have come up through private conversations with the commissioners.

It's been known to happen.