This week’s column is a response to an anonymous post, by someone calling themselves “Grizzly,” addressed to the Ole Seagull, in an on line forum he posts to on www.1Branson.com. The post is entitled “City aldermen Code of Ethics ???” Its topic is so very timely and pertinent to the events starting to develop within our community that the Ole Seagull wanted to share it with the whole community through the printed medium before posting it on line to a relatively small segment of that community.
A hint of what is to come is contained in the first paragraph of Grizzly’s post. It reads “I hear there are some people going to be at the next City meetings with an important question. So, I thought I might ask a similar question posed a little differently here.”
If the following is any indication, one could almost get the impression that there are those with a vested interest, who will do just about anything to thwart the expressed will of the voters of Branson for change within the city of Branson’s government. The following format is pretty self explanatory:
1. Grizzly starts first question: How is it that the Old Seagull can spend the past year berating the Mayor, City aldermen and the City administrator about every imagined conspiracy theory and secret illicit deal…
The Ole Seagull: The vast majority of those columns are on line under “Editorials” at www.BransonCourier.Com, exactly which one is an “imagined conspiracy theory and secret illicit deal or factually inaccurate?
2. Grizzly continues: …BUT we have not heard a word from him about the obvious abuse of power and conflict of interest as well as special ethics bending going on in the new City Council meetings?
The Ole Seagull: What’s to write about in those specific areas? The new mayor and board members have pretty well mitigated the abuse of power that certain senior unelected city officials have heretofore been permitted to exercise in an unfettered manner at past meetings and the Ole Seagull has observed nothing indicting that any of the other alleged acts have occurred at “the new city council meetings.”
3. Grizzly states: In rough estimates there have been 14 hours of meetings and about 4 hours of that time was spent in outright unethical discussions initiated by Steven [Stephen] Marshall regarding his only real competitor in the City…
The Ole Seagull: In the meetings he has attended, especially the board of aldermen meeting of Apr. 23, the audio of which is available at the City of Branson’s official website, http://www.cityofbranson.org/, he has personally not heard Marshall say anything that is unethical, period. What he has observed in Alderman Marshall’s actions is an elected leader, using their expertise and experience, to do what the voters elected him to do.
4. Grizzly continues:… yet the manager for that one real competitor [Alderman Marshall] is clearly attempting to renegotiate or undermine the completed and signed contracts with the Hilton company.
The Ole Seagull: Again, all an Ole Seagull has observed is an alderman trying to do his job. How is the questioning of a city of Branson expenditure of over $680 thousand for the equipment to build a commercial laundry in the convention center, when such facilities are not normally built in a convention center, “clearly attempting to renegotiate or undermine the completed and signed contracts with the Hilton Company?” Encouraging a public discussion on the fact that 295 of the 499 new parking spaces in the new parking garage, paid for at tax payer expense, are allocated to HCW’s benefit and that it [HCW] is entitled to receive the income from them is “clearly attempting to renegotiate or undermine the completed and signed contracts with the Hilton Company how?
Come to think of it, why would an Ole Seagull or anyone else for that matter, pay any attention to the unsupported allegations of someone hiding behind a cloak of anonymity as they personally attack someone else? Such attacks generally speak volumes about how much credibility people should give them and the honor and integrity of the person delivering the attack.
