12-07-2009, 03:18 PM
One place to start would be to really fix the County Charter. There are two places that the charter is really broke.
First is the impeachment item. The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows us to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The County Charter says that in order for anyone to impeach an elected official, he or she must gather a large number of signatures on a petition.
Let's be clear, impeachment is the process by which a person is charged with misfeasance, etc. A judge sits in judgement to hear evidence as to whether the person charged has committed an offense of sufficient magnatude to be removed from office.
Impeachment is just a report to the judge as to whether such an offense has occurred. We don't have to get a petition of our neighbors to report a violation of the law. The requirement in the chgarter is just a way to discourage people from exercising their 1st amendment rights. This is not arcane, it is fundmental. The County Charter violates your constitutional rights in this case.
secondly, the Charter requires thatr the Corporation counsel shall be the chief legal counsel for all officers and employees and all boards and commissions in the county. This means that the corporation counsel gives secret advice to the Mayor, the County Council, The Police Commission, the Board of Ethics, etc. It is advice that is confidential between attorney and client. we can never know what advice was given because of that privelege. The current Corp Counsel, Lincoln Ashida has been in his position for nine years. he has succeeded in turning the Board of ethics, into a virtual star chamber. under Lincoln's tutelege they no longer list the name of the person charged, who is doing the charging, they accept secret testimony and they don't allow rebuttal to false testimony. That's just one way the process is flawed.
The bottom line is that everyone eho works for or volunteers for the county on boards are the clients of the corp counsel. if you or I make a complaint about anyone they are repres4ented by corp counsel. It is the corp counsels job to defend them to the best of his ability. That means no matter what might be in the best interest of the county taxpayers as a whole, corporation counsel will defend them even against the best interests of the county.He must, by the tenets of his profession. That needs to change.
The argument that we can't afford a lwyer for each section of government is BS. there are 24 lawyers working in th Office of the Corporation Counsel, yet they are constantly meeing in secret to hire others for special jobs. Recently they asked the County Council to authorize them to hire a lawyer experienced in bonds for some reason. This is peobably another way of pushing our tax dollars out the back door to their lawyer buddies. Stan Rorhig's firm has certainly been sucking at the county teat for as long as I have lived here or longer.
When they say "you can't fight city hall", they mean that the rules a4re stacked against fair and open government. One pundit has said " Politics attracts the worst, and corrupts the best." Thats probably true because they always put on their invisibility cloak and think they can get away with anything. Corporation Counsel sure is.
First is the impeachment item. The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows us to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The County Charter says that in order for anyone to impeach an elected official, he or she must gather a large number of signatures on a petition.
Let's be clear, impeachment is the process by which a person is charged with misfeasance, etc. A judge sits in judgement to hear evidence as to whether the person charged has committed an offense of sufficient magnatude to be removed from office.
Impeachment is just a report to the judge as to whether such an offense has occurred. We don't have to get a petition of our neighbors to report a violation of the law. The requirement in the chgarter is just a way to discourage people from exercising their 1st amendment rights. This is not arcane, it is fundmental. The County Charter violates your constitutional rights in this case.
secondly, the Charter requires thatr the Corporation counsel shall be the chief legal counsel for all officers and employees and all boards and commissions in the county. This means that the corporation counsel gives secret advice to the Mayor, the County Council, The Police Commission, the Board of Ethics, etc. It is advice that is confidential between attorney and client. we can never know what advice was given because of that privelege. The current Corp Counsel, Lincoln Ashida has been in his position for nine years. he has succeeded in turning the Board of ethics, into a virtual star chamber. under Lincoln's tutelege they no longer list the name of the person charged, who is doing the charging, they accept secret testimony and they don't allow rebuttal to false testimony. That's just one way the process is flawed.
The bottom line is that everyone eho works for or volunteers for the county on boards are the clients of the corp counsel. if you or I make a complaint about anyone they are repres4ented by corp counsel. It is the corp counsels job to defend them to the best of his ability. That means no matter what might be in the best interest of the county taxpayers as a whole, corporation counsel will defend them even against the best interests of the county.He must, by the tenets of his profession. That needs to change.
The argument that we can't afford a lwyer for each section of government is BS. there are 24 lawyers working in th Office of the Corporation Counsel, yet they are constantly meeing in secret to hire others for special jobs. Recently they asked the County Council to authorize them to hire a lawyer experienced in bonds for some reason. This is peobably another way of pushing our tax dollars out the back door to their lawyer buddies. Stan Rorhig's firm has certainly been sucking at the county teat for as long as I have lived here or longer.
When they say "you can't fight city hall", they mean that the rules a4re stacked against fair and open government. One pundit has said " Politics attracts the worst, and corrupts the best." Thats probably true because they always put on their invisibility cloak and think they can get away with anything. Corporation Counsel sure is.