23 May 2016

Hey! Whatever Happened to "The Minutes" of City Council Meetings??

Official image/mesaaz.gov
Swearing to Open Data, transparency and accountability in government the Mesa City Council is anything but that .... read the hype here [it's a copy-and-paste]
Mesa operates under a charter form of government with citizens electing a mayor and six councilmembers to set policy for the City.
Mesa's councilmembers serve terms of four-years, with three members being elected every two years. The mayor is elected at-large every four years. The mayor and council are elected on a non-partisan basis [Blogger's Note: All Republicans?] The vice mayor is selected by the City Council . . . [ Blogger's Note: All suit-and-tie guys in shades of gray?]
The Mesa City Council believes that its people, not leaders, are what makes a City great [Blogger's Note: Really?]  and actively works to encourage citizen participation in the decision-making process. Whether it is through neighborhood meetings, advisory boards and committees, telephone calls and letters, or email, the Mesa City Council sets policies based on the input and needs of its citizens. 
Mayor John Giles
Councilmember Dave Richins - District 1
Councilmember Alex Finter - District 2
Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh - District 3
Councilmember Christopher Glover - District 4
Councilmember David Luna- District 5
Councilmember Kevin Thompson - District 6
[Blogger's Note: Test the links e.g..where do they go?]
Councilmap
 
How many people - 465,00 who live here in Mesa in any of six districts - know who their Mesa City Council is? .... or for what matter what he or she [Blogger's Notes: there are no women in the Mesa City Council] actually is doing to represent the citizens who elect them?
Apparently, checking this link for the Calendar Schedule of meetings, agendas and meeting minutes, HIT THE LINK AND TAKE A LOOK [Blogger's Note: Let's Play Ball!] >> http://mesa.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx there are no what's called "meeting minutes" available for meetings that happened as long ago as three weeks ago !
If you didn't attend the meeting in-person, or watch it on Mesa Channel 11 - sorry, but you are totally left in the dark - simply 'not available'
Crazy that in the fast-world we live where access is quick and instantaneous, and real-time transcription apps available, the read-able part is simply "NOT AVAILABLE"

 


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