Longmont City Councilman Sean McCoy, who wants to sit in his council chair for four more years, this week declared to a group of mostly family and like minded supporters that he was seeking re-election. According to his statement, he didn’t think his work was done yet.
What work is that? To continue berating civic and community minded citizens of Longmont? One early example (of many) of such pettiness on the behalf of Councilmember McCoy sticks out in the minds of Longmont citizens.
Last year, on January 12th 2010, an open forum meeting of the Longmont City Council was held. According to the City of Longmont’s website, an Open Forum is “an opportunity for Longmontresidents to engage in a positive, informal dialogue with members of the City Council about any current issues or future opportunities they see for Longmont. The open forum format differs from the typical City Council Meeting in that residents can offer their opinions, ask questions and converse with Council Members and City staff. This Open Forum, which replaces the regular City Council Meeting, has no formal agenda other than to listen to voices from the community.”
Response to the first couple of speakers at the January 12, 2010 Open Forum meeting was polite and at times overly empathetic.
Then a Longmont resident named Andy Ulmer sat down to present his topic. It included a letter that he had previously written to council and he re-read from it. The response to him from one city councilmember was not so positive. Councilmember Sean McCoy proceeded to deliver Andy “a lesson” on how city government works and information on “transparency.” But, more startling was Council McCoy’s remarks that Andy was speaking “rhetoric” and his concern that Andy’s topic was “right out of the playbook of a particular political party.”
Mr Ulmer’s topic (or according to Council McCoy…offense)? Encouraging the city to establish an incentive program within the city’s various departments that compensated staff for saving money…especially if they come underneath last years budget. He then proceeded to propose other ideas to help the city control growth in operational budgets.
Well, that makes sense. The city council was dealing with budget issues. According to City Manager, Gordon Pedrow, “the need to reduce and save budget money has been a high priority in this organization for several years…but we are always looking for new and better ways to improve how this operation goes and I certainly will take a look at what he’s handing to you tonight.” (Note that the City Manager himself referred to city government as an “organization” and “operation”).
Unfamiliar with Mr. Ulmer or his background, a quick Google search found that he is the owner of a successful building company in Longmont with an A+ rating in over 7 yrs in Longmont without a single complaint filed.
Yes, now it makes even more sense. Those that follow council meetings closely know that in addition to conservatives, businessmen, and realtors…building contractors or anyone in the building industry appear to be the bane of Councilmember McCoy’s existence as he talks down to and criticizes them frequently during council meetings.
You can view the 1/12/10 Longmont City Council Public Forum where Councilmember McCoy insults Mr Ulmer’s intelligence at this link (begin at the 35:00 mark)
Given the tongue lashing Councilmember McCoy gave to this citizen and business owner of Longmont, his own finger- read words and political playbook rhetoric he delivered during a prior 1/20/09 council meeting appear hypocritical. You-tube video of this can be seen by clicking here.
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