20060601 KDDC New group seeks to oust City Council

New group seeks to oust City Council

Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner

Jun 1, 2006 7:00 AM (21 hrs ago)

Westminster - A community group devoted to ousting Westminster’s City Council and mayor met for the first time Tuesday to form committees and discuss their disgust with an array of the city’s conditions, from unsafe streets to leaders’ alleged lack of responsiveness to residents’ concerns.

The formation of the Greater Westminster Citizens Coalition follows last month’s property tax increase and water and sewer rate increases.

Read the rest of the story on the Baltimore Examiner web site here.

PS: Although I have no problems pulling the page up – I have received feedback that some folks do. Pasted below is the entire article written by Kelsey Volkmann:

New group seeks to oust City Council

Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner

Jun 1, 2006 5:00 AM (70 days ago)

Westminster - A community group devoted to ousting Westminster’s City Council and mayor met for the first time Tuesday to form committees and discuss their disgust with an array of the city’s conditions, from unsafe streets to leaders’ alleged lack of responsiveness to residents’ concerns.

The formation of the Greater Westminster Citizens Coalition follows last month’s property tax increase and water and sewer rate increases.

About 10 people attended the meeting and elected Carter Clews of Main Street as their president.

Claiming the council has failed to respond directly to a variety of inquiries, including why the Longwell parking garage was needed, Clews said an official letter soon will be sent to the council, asking it to address a long list of concerns.

“They’ve made our lives unpleasant, so we’re going to make their lives unpleasant,” Clews said.

Coalition members discussed legislation in Berkeley, Calif., that allows for a recall if enough residents demand it. A recall is a procedure by which a public official may be removed from office by popular vote.

Mayor Thomas Ferguson said Wednesday that elections, not recalls, are the pathway for change in leadership.

The city’s charter does not include a recall provision; the council would have to adopt it.

“[Recall] is crazy and a bad idea,” Council Member Greg Pecoraro said last week. “Out in California, things are always in chaos.”

Ferguson said that while the tax and rate increases were unpopular, they were necessary.

“There isn’t a single one of us who expected to get a pat on the back for doing what we did,” he said.

Ferguson also said residents should voice their opinions, but it is the elected leaders who have to make decisions “at the end of the day.”

“It’s not as if we aren’t listening [to residents’ complaints], it’s that we are in disagreement,” he said.

Del. Tanya Shewell, R-Carroll County, said she attended the coalition’s meeting to listen.

Resident and coalition member Ken Warren said he plans to run for one of the three council seats open in 2007.

The coalition plans to meet again in two weeks at a to-be-determined location.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com

Examiner