The Conway City Council will step onto high ground at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. today at the District Court Building.
The council will consider a resolution urging its legislators and Congressional Delegation to support a constitutional amendment that provides that “money is not speech” and that “human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.”
If approved, the Council will be joining a national “Move to Amend” campaign to encourage Constitutional amendments relating to contributions and expenditures that affect elections and relate to the rights of corporations.
Among other business, the council will consider:
• Providing a fully-equipped, full-time community police officer, with a vehicle, for Conway Housing Authority at a cost of $35,000, paid by CHA.
The officer will be a city employee selected by the police department.
• An ordinance waiving competitive bids for the purchase of 28 tasers for the police department. Teeco Safety is the sole source of the tasers.
• An ordinance appropriating funds, $1,772,048, for the new one-step employee salary scale and for fulltime elected officials.
The scale is based on the midpoint of ranges established by a JESAP Salary Study and all full-time elected officials to salary levels based on results of the Arkansas Municipal League 2012 Salary Survey.
(Staff writer Becky Harris can be reached at becky.harris@thecabin.net and 505-1234.)
Comments (22)
Add commentSo, in other words the
So, in other words the liberal progressive city council and mayor are wanting to take away rights of free speech guarenteed under the first amendment to the Constitution and reaffirmed by the supreme court. The organization, "Move to Amendend" is run by a group of Green party and occupy party types....yes you hear the Twilight Zone music in back ground.
Regardless of the fact the council and mayor cannot and will not tell what corporation have influenced any election and have no clue why they are going to vote in favor of this resolution they will all affirm.
Wonder what local and regional corporations- HP, Axciom, American Mgmt are having such a negative influence on elections?
Why would the Mayor and Council want to eliminate someones right to free speech?
Does this apply to unions?
Posting the agenda in a timely manner
Here it is, less than 17 hours before the council meeting and the agenda has yet to be posted online. http://cityofconway.org/departments/city_council/city_council.html Can someone from city hall please explain why? It clearly states on the city council page "All requests for placement on the Conway City Council Agenda, along with all written backup material must be in the Mayor's Office no later than 12:00pm (noon) seven (7) days prior to the meeting." This would mean that the documents for tonight’s council agenda should have been turned in to city hall by noon on Tuesday the 15th. Another question I have is the new one step salary scale that is mentioned in the above article was approved by the council on December 20th yet the documentation of those scales/salaries do not appear in any of the documents from that meeting. http://cityofconway.org/departments/city_council/2010-2012_%20city_counc... The same holds true for the documentation on the employee health insurance premiums. This was approved on December 11th. Why were those not posted with the agendas, actions, or minutes on the cities website? Why is it that human resources is constantly allowed to hand those documents to the council on the day of the meeting but they are never added to the online postings? Why is HR not held to the same standard of everyone else? The citizens have the right to see those documents, especially since we are paying for them. Maybe The Cabin could please follow up on this?
umm it is posted and has been
umm it is posted and has been posted:
http://cityofconway.org/pdfs/city_council/agendas/2013/01_22_2013_City_C...
http://cityofconway.org/
Linked on main page for crying out loud
@SWIBC
I don't think it was on the main page when I first looked but I admit I didn't check that page as close as I should have. I went straight to the Council page because that is where it should be. As of 1:50pm, still not on Council page (nor the minutes from last meeting). I am sorry to have put you out so much. (for crying out loud). It still doesn't change the fact that none of the salary documents or the benefit documents are posted. If the council voted on them, they are part of the public record and should be attached with the other documents from those meetings.
@facts
Monday was a holiday, so it probably wasn't on there when you looked. I would have looked at the council’s page also. We can all see how the main page is kept so current and all with The 2010 State of the City Address still on it! I guess if Townsell doesn't talk about it then 2011 and 2012 never happened. Maybe that explains why the city employees didn't get any raises in those years. I do agree with you that those salary and benefit information should be posted online with the other council documents.
Awesome
The corrosive effect of corporate personhood on Democracy is, at this point, well documented and a major component of the crushing of the middle class in America.
The middle class, or as I like to call it: Conway's backbone.
I am really stoked for the city council making this move, really stoked.
Thanks, everyone.
Corrosion?
While money is certainly the root of much evil in politics, what about the Labor Unions' corrosive effects? Both large corporations and labor unions get special benefits from lawmakers. Labor Unions get laws which require mandatory dues, which are then funneled back into contributions to the democrat party, while large corporations get tax breaks which feed both parties. The "Move to Amend" website says unions are included, We'll see.
Union bashing
That same corrosion is what's doing so much union-bashing, and in turn putting further downward pressure on the middle class.
No, this has all been a grand-scale act to isolate wealth. Union bashing greedites have publicists, but those on the losing end got nothing.
Ask anybody who's lost their pension in the last 15 years: You'll hear of the heroic struggle of corporate (and, perhaps, management's bonuses) but those getting spit out the bottom? The ones whose pensions were wiped out? Yeah, you don't hear of it.
American Airlines
US Air
Caterpillar
Raytheon
The list goes on; and this is thousands, thousands upon thousands of people, people who work for a living (and vilified by the same publicity process which allows multi-mill CEO bonuses while this is going on) screwed into the ground by the greed of a few.
No, this is wrong, and this sure ain't America. This is a relative handful working a loophole no different than those who screwed the economy into the ground a few years ago. It needs to stop.
Way to go, City Council.
yes
"This is a relative handful working a loophole no different than those who screwed the economy into the ground a few years ago."
It's TOTALLY Bush's fault. 100% agreed.
Obama is righting this ship as we type.
The wealth movement...
... started back in the 80s (and you could make a case for it starting with Nixon and his policies).
No, this has been a long train coming.