Happy New Year! Betsy’s bad math gives citizens the “bird”
Posted 1 January 2024
Betsy Wilkerson on election night ‘23 as photographed by The Spokesman-Review (caption added)
Which is more: 60 or 40?
“First grade teachers may spend half the year or more on addition and subtraction. Most states have standards that aim for all 1st graders to know the addition facts, and corresponding subtraction facts, for sums to 20. But before kids can master these basics, they need to understand the nature of adding and taking away.”
It is clear that Betsy Wilkerson can’t do First Grade Math (keep reading)
Slated for her first Spokane City Council Meeting of 2024 (January 8), Council President Betsy Wilkerson has introduced Resolution No. 2024-0003 (if printing, make sure you are stocked up on red toner - actually all toner - it’s 83 pages) which includes:
Among Wilkerson’s proposed broad-sweeping and fundamental changes to the Spokane City Council Rules of procedure as per her resolution referenced above (proposed changes are underlined in red), we’ll focus first on just one change to citizen involvement at City Hall …
Longstanding tradition has provided that Spokane citizens can address council members during “Open Forum". The basic democratic idea and ideal is that the people can speak to city council members and in front of their peers on matters of concern. The rights of citizens have been chipped away over time. Topics have been limited, as have speaking time, number of people appearing, and how many times a month a person can address council.
The current Open Forum rules include:
Open Forum each week near the beginning of the meeting
Must sign up between 5 pm and 6 pm on the night (almost always Mondays) of a City Council meeting
Can only speak for 2 minutes (virtual accommodations have been implemented - phone or virtual meeting)
Cannot speak on items on the meeting’s agenda (however, can speak to those items when the time comes)
Only 15 people can speak at the meeting each week
Can only speak once per month, unless less than 15 people have signed up
Betsy’s proposed changes include:
Open Forum only once a month (the third Monday)
Can sign up beginning at 9 am the Tuesday preceding the Open Forum. For example, if Open Forum was on Monday, January 15, you could sign up beginning on Tuesday, January 9th until 6 pm on the 15th
Can only speak for 2 minutes (virtual accommodations have been implemented - phone or virtual meeting)
Cannot speak on items on the meeting’s agenda (however, can speak to those items when the time comes), but no legislative items will appear at Open Forum meetings under the new rules.
Only 40 people can speak at the meeting each month
Can only speak once per month, unless 40 people have signed up who did not speak the month prior, then you must wait another month
One Open Forum will be held in a council district each year. At meetings outside City Hall, neighborhood council representatives will be given priority
Betsy Wilkerson’s explanation (immediately above) claims that more people will be able to address City Council.
This is math that only a politician could conjur.
Current:
Four monthly Monday meetings x 15 people = 60 people
Betsy Plan:
One monthly Monday meeting x 40 people = 40 people
Under Betsy’s convoluted plan, a citizen may have to wait more than six months to speak again.
There is so much to cover in Wilkerson’s 83-page citizen participation-calming plan that we’ll provide just one more obnoxious example:
Yes, you read that correctly! Council President Wilkerson is prohibiting presentations at Open Forum by citizens, and
Requiring citizens to stay seated.
When at Wilkerson’s City Council thou shall NOT
Stand up to greet a friend
Stand up to let someone find a seat
Walk into a council meeting
Stand up to use the bathroom
Yes, we are reading her proposal literally, but we literally have no idea why Betsy is enforcing a Sit-and-Lie mandate.
Only the author of Spokane’s Political Trifecta plan could come with these ridiculous rules. However, It WAS WILKERSON who wrote in her campaign announcement letter: