My Analysis of Nick Gardisar's New 2017 Country Club Charter For Pueblo City
April 6, 1954 is a day that will live in Pueblo infamy.
3 Score & 3 Years Ago, Pueblo City constructed herself a Charter, a Constitutional Contract with her inhabitants of the City, which promised to always love & protect the good citizens of Pueblo City, always & forever, through the powerful "home rule" mechanism, giving Pueblo City lots of freedom, independence, & autonomy, to govern her own affairs.
Here's the "strange mayor" ballot question:
The above ballot language refers to the the full 10-page 70-Amendment "strong mayor" document.
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Section 14-1
Here's Section 14-1 of the Country Club Anti-Revolutionary Charter:
Here's Section 14-1 of the 1954 Revolutionary Charter of autonomous Home Rule Pueblo City:
Notice that the 1954 Charter states: "There is hereby created a Department of Aviation, the head of which shall be the Director. The Department shall be responsible for such functions as shall be determined by resolution of the City Council."
The 2017 Charter reads: "There is hereby created a Department of Aviation, the head of which shall be a Director. The Department shall be responsible for such functions as shall be determined by ordinance of the City Council."
If Nick Gardisar's new skinny Charter becomes law, the City Council will have to control the Department of Aviation by Ordinance instead of by mere Resolution.
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The Brand Spanking New Section 4-2:
Notice the last sentence of Section 4-2:
"After having served two consecutive terms, the incumbent Mayor shall be ineligible to hold office thereafter."
"After having served two conservative terms..." is a loophole because a Mayor can be elected to 2 or 3 or 5 or 55 NONCONSECUTIVE terms.
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Even though there are 70 changes, i.e. Amendments, to the 1954 Charter, Mr. Nick Gardisar didn't change the sexist language of Section 3-11... on purpose?
The 2nd sentence of Section 3-11 is: "The City Clerk shall give notice of council meetings, keep a journal of its proceedings, authenticate by HIS signature and record in full in the book kept for the purpose, all ordinances and resolutions and shall perform such other duties as shall be required by this Charter or by ordinance."
Section 3-11 implies that City Clerks can only be men, which should surprise the current City Clerk, who is not a man. Mr. Nick Gardisar, the locomotive of "Strange Mayor", should have Amended Section 3-11 to be more inclusive, but he didn't. He "find & replaced" "City Manager" to "Mayor" on Section 3-11, but he left the obvious sexist language intact.
Women can be City Clerks too Nick!
But let's assume Nick just absent-mindedly overlooked this clear misogyny.
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The proposed Amendment to Section 6-4 is mysterious as fuck. The new language is incompatible with the old language.
Here's Section 6-4 from the 1954 Charter:
Here's Section 6-4 from the new proposed 2017 "skinny" Charter:
Before, under the 1954 Charter, the people who slipped on Pueblo City's sidewalks were required to write a letter to Pueblo City soon after the accident on Pueblo City property occurred, but the new section adds "or by a City employee acting within the course of employment" to the lists of properties...
A City Employee isn't property, so this addition doesn't make any sense on it's face. The proposed new Section 6-4 reads: "Notice of Personal Injuries - Before the Municipal Government shall be liable for damages to a person injured on a street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, public place or way, or by a City employee acting within the course of employment, the person so injured, or someone in his behalf, shall notify the Municipal Government within the time period and manner required by the laws of the State of Colorado." Before the mysterious "City employee clause" was added to the "Notice of Personal Injuries" clause, the cities properties listed were as follows: street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, public place or way. All of these are outside places, involving roads. A "public place" could be a government building, but at no point did Section 6-4 protect any individual human rights, specifically "City employees".
The change is too specific, & it doesn't fit in the context it's inserted in. Speculation leads me to believe that some personal injury incident happened that involved a "City employee", & so, either retroactively, to cover up their crimes, or perhaps preventatively, to make sure it never happens again, Nick Gardisar's added that Amendment to Section 6-4 as part of his "Strong Mayor" bundle of changes.
I hope the "Strange Mayor" isn't trying to cover up some of his, or others, crimes retroactively. That's NOT Pueblo. Or maybe it is. Either way, covering up crimes is unacceptable, & if it's happening, it needs to stop.
Also once again, Mr. Gardisar didn't change the sexist language. Section 6-4 states: "someone in HIS behalf", as if the only people who can get injured in an alley or a public place or way, are men.
Women are just as capable of injuring themselves on Pueblo City's avenues & sidewalks just as men are, Nick!
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Nicholas Gardisar never even considered Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) aka Preferential Voting aka Ranked Choice Voting, because if he had, he would have seen it's the best goddamned electoral system for winner-take-all elections. Mr. Gardisar made the election for Big Daddy Strange slightly more progressive than a simple "highest vote getter" plurality election, by adding 1 runoff election to be held in December.
The only fair election for "winner-take-all" Presidential Elections is IRV. 1 puny tiny little runoff election isn't good enough for me.
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Never Forget April 6, 1954. Every true blue Puebloan knows what April 6, 1954 means. Every true blue Puebloans knows how powerful democracy is, how powerful running their own lives, of governing themselves, of us governing ourselves, truly means. April 6, 1954 is Pueblo City's Independence Day. #pueblopride
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Tucked inside Nick Gardisar's Section 5-1 is this sentence: "Each Municipal Judge shall be appointed by the Mayor for a term of two years and may be removed by the Mayor for cause."
Section 5-1 used to say: "Each Municipal Judge shall be appointed by the Council for a term of two years and may be removed by the Council for cause."
The Judges used to be appointed by City Council, & fired by City Council. Now, the Mayor will handle that. The Legislative check on the Judiciary has been eliminated, & by placing the entire Judicial Branch to serve "at the pleasure" of the Executive Branch, the new skinny Charter eliminates an Independent Judiciary.
While the Legislative Power of Hiring & Firing the Judiciary has been stripped, City Council still gets to keep a small new check with their Confirmation Powers. So not only can the Strange Mayor hire & fire all of the City's Judges, but Strange Mayor can hire as many Judges as he pleases, with Council Confirmation.
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While the assumption that Pueblo City must follow the American & the Colorado Constitutions is already true, the new authors of the 2017 Strange Mayor Electoral Coup Detat felt the need to assert that fact in numerous places.
Section 3-5 (i):
Section 4-4 (m):
Section 7-16:
Could Pueblo County officials be jealous of Pueblo City's Home Rule Autonomy, since Pueblo County is just an administrative unit of the State, and Pueblo City is her own municipality?
What's next? Will these basterds gut Pueblo City's sacred Charter Convention Clause too? They wouldn't dare... would they?
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Park Employees can be appointed as Special Policemen.
This was true of both Pueblo City's 1954 Charter, & Nick's 2017 one. I just found it interesting.
The term "policeman" is sexist. Women can be police officers too Nick!
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Section 3-14 takes some of the Chief Executive's power away from the Chief Executive, specifically in regards to: "transacting financial business of the City to furnish bonds with such surety and in such amounts as the Council may determine."
The City Manager had the power to "to furnish bonds with such surety", but under Mayor Strange, only the unelected Director of Finance gets that power. Not the Mayor. The Mayor doesn't have this same power that the City Manager was.
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Here's another interesting passage Section 8-14 (p) (which exist in both the Revolutionary Charter & the Anti-Revolutionary one):
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Section 4-1 of the Revolutionary 1954 Charter specifically mentions that the City Manager shall be appointed "on the basis of administrative and executive qualifications with special reference to his actual experience in and his knowledge of accepted practice in respect to the duties of his office as hereafter set forth." The main purpose of having a City Manager form of government was to eliminate the politics out of deciding on the Chief Executive. 1954 Pueblo City wanted a non-partisan Professional Chief Executive, who had good administrative skills.
Strange Mayor calls for a partisan, without regard to their administrative skills.
Section 4-3 of the 1954 Charter documented how to get rid of a City Manager. For City Council to fire the City Manager, they need a Majority Vote ("The Council shall appoint the City Manager for an indefinite term and may remove him by majority vote of its members."), & a 30 day notice ("At least thirty (30) days before such removal shall become effective, the Council shall by majority vote of its members, adopt a resolution stating the reasons for his removal.").
Both Sections 4-1 & 4-3 have been eliminated in new form of government Nick Gardisar & Friends are imposing upon Pueblo City. Instead of City Council being able to Fire the Chief Executive "at-will" (with a 30 day notice), now City Council & all of Pueblo City will have to endure the Chief Executive for their entire 4 year term, or 5 year term (for the 23rd Mayor of Pueblo City).
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If a City Council member misses 2 City Council meetings within the span of 1 year without a "reasonable excuse", they lose their seat.
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I'm not sure if Section 4-6 eliminates all of the Departments, or if this section is being added to the previous Section 4-6.
The 1954 Charter listed all 10 Departments of the City.
These are the 10 Departments listed:
1- Aviation
2- Finance
3- Fire
4- Health
5- Law
6- Parks and Recreation
7- Personnel
8- Police
9- Public Works
10- Purchasing
The "Mayor's cabinet" forces them all to work under Dr. Strange.
There's 15 Departments listed in the Ballot Language (top picture).
These 5 Departments were listed in the Ballot Language, but they weren't listed in either Charter:
1- Planning & Community
2- Housing & Citizen Services
3- Wastewater
4- Storm Water
5- Information Technology
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The most heartbreaking part of Gardisar's skinny charter is that the Charter Convention Clause, the heart & soul of the legal foundation of an autonomous Home Rule Pueblo City for the last 63 years, has been gutted out, & ripped out of our revolutionary souls, leaving an empty shell, an empty husk of a former revolutionary document in it's wake.
A Home Rule Charter without a Charter Convention Clause is like a Union who signs their Strike Powers away. Without The Strike, what leverage does a Union even have?
This section being ripped out of Pueblo City's heart should be held akin to the sleeping pills that stopped Marilyn Monroe's beating heart. The aftermath of the downfall of Mufasa saw the dawn of Scar's hyena minions.
Nick Gardisar's efforts is akin to an anti-revolutionary electoral coup detat. Not only did Nick Gardisar purposely forgo a Charter Convention, as Pueblo City's laws requires, but he's also ripping out that section he's illegally acting against.
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List of 14 Facts About The Proposed "Mein Fuhrer" Tyranny of Question 2A:
-Department of Aviation will be governed by Ordinace now, instead of Resolution.
-Unlimited Non-consecutive Mayoral Terms. There's a loophole to the Term Limits for Big Daddy Strange. As long as Mayors never serve consecutive terms, they can be Mayor for life. Mayors are only required to step down after 2 "consecutive" terms. The last sentence of Section 4-2: "After having served two consecutive terms, the incumbent Mayor shall be ineligible to hold office thereafter." The Term Limit loophole allows a Mayor to be elected to 2 or 3 or 5 or 55 NONCONSECUTIVE terms. Theoretically, you could have two folks, a man & a woman, who just alternate the Mayoral terms, until they both die off.
-Nick never even considered IRV; IRV protects Independents; 2 Party system is anti-IRV because they're not for fair democracies; City Manager system takes the politics out of deciding on the Chief Executive; Strange Mayor calls for a partisan, without regard to their administrative skills; Strange Mayor puts partisan politics back into the Chief Executive decision; of course they're against 3 party independents; they're 3rd party racists; 1 puny tiny little runoff election isn't good enough for me.
-many extra clauses were added reasserting we must abide to the state & federal government constitutions, almost as if they're begging to lose our constitutional Home Rule standing; Strange Mayor is sliding towards being a stupid administrative unit of the state, like the county is;
-Pueblo City won't have an Independent Judiciary; Municipal Court will merely serve at the flippant pleasure of the Mayor; Council doesn't appoint or fire Municipal Court Judges no more; Strange Mayor does; Section 5-1: "Each Municipal Judge shall be appointed by the Mayor for a term of two years and may be removed by the Mayor for cause."
-a major "You're Fired" legislative check on the executive branch is forever eliminated; Strange mayor doesn't change budget or hiring & firing powers for Shitty Council; they do, however, get Confirmation Powers;
-"by a City employee acting within the course of employment"; Section 6-4; greater protections for injuries city employees commit against the public if they're "acting within the course of employment". Section 6-4 (1954) begins as: "Notice of Personal Injuries - Before the Municipal Government shall be liable for damages to a person injured on a street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, public place or way, or..." ... "by a City employee acting within the course of employment" (2017);
-Park Employees can be appointed as "Special Policemen".
-Strong mayor? Section 3-14 gives the City Manager the power "to furnish bonds with such surety", but under Mayor Strangelove, only the unelected Director of Finance gets that power. Not the Mayor. The Mayor doesn't have this same power that the City Manager was. Strong mayor? What kind of strong mayor can't sign the city's checks?
-to fire the City Manager, there's only 2 requirements: 1) a Majority Vote ("The Council shall appoint the City Manager for an indefinite term and may remove him by majority vote of its members."), &; 2) a 30 day notice ("At least thirty (30) days before such removal shall become effective, the Council shall by majority vote of its members, adopt a resolution stating the reasons for his removal.")
-the 1st, or actually 23rd, Mayor, will be elected to a 5-year reich.
-the "Mayor's cabinet" language was added to our beloved progressive & revolutionary & precious 1954 Charter. All true blue Puebloans love their Charters, 1911 Charter & the 1954 Charter, & they dream of writing a brand new Charter - i.e. Constitutional Revolution - every single fkn year!
-These are the 10 specific Departments (led by unelected executive directors) listed in the 1954 Charter:
1- Aviation
2- Finance
3- Fire
4- Health
5- Law
6- Parks and Recreation
7- Personnel
8- Police
9- Public Works
10- Purchasing
-These 5 Departments were listed in the Ballot Language, but they weren't listed in either Charter:
1- Planning & Community
2- Housing & Citizen Services
3- Wastewater
4- Storm Water
5- Information Technology
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5 Changes Not Made:
1- No Bill of Rights;
2- No Ombudsman/Ombudswoman;
3- No Citizen's Oversight & Complaint Board; all 3 branches are fundamentally changed, but not the all-powerful 4th Branch;
4- No Popular Democracy; Popular Democracy requires that all department chiefs must be elected; the Police & Fire Chiefs should be popularly elected; all of the 15 Department Directors should be elected: Finance Chief; Health Czar/City Manager; Law King; Parks & Recreation President; Personnel Executive Director; Aviation Queen/Mayor; Public Works Leader; Purchasing Head Motivator/Superintendent; Planning & Community God; Housing & Citizen Services Quarterback/Judge; Wastewater Attorney General/Governor; Storm Water District Attorney, &, of course; the Heavyweight Information Technology Champion of the World;
5- Chock full of easily remedied normative sexist & frankly misogynistic language;
Overall, strange major is superfluous. We already have a strong chief executive, & replacing a strong chief executive with another strong chief executive doesn't change shit. We already have a strong Chief Executive. We don't need another.
Instead of tyranny & slavery, what Pueblo City should consider trying, is democracy & liberation.
1954 was when Marilyn married & divorced Joe DiMaggio, when "The 7 Year Itch" came out, & when Marilyn took her famous iconic white skirt blowing in the wind while she was standing over a NYC subway grate publicity shoot. 1954 was the height of Marilyn's career. 1954 is also when Pueblo City got herself a brand spanking new Home Rule Charter.
Passing strange mayor is the equivalent of burning Marilyn Monroe in effigy for eternity.
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School was built in 1954. The Pueblo Airport began commercial service in 1954. I-25, i.e. the Pueblo Freeway, was constructed in 1954. The Parks System consolidated & expanded substantially in 1954.
I don't see how any freedom-loving American can accept just some weird ass Strange Mayor, who just comes marching here into our own beloved small town, into our Pueblo City, into our down-home-country-big-city-small-town community, & just guts the shit out of Pueblo City's 1954 Charter. Strange Mayor rips Pueblo City's revolutionary entrails clean out. The anti-Revolutionary Strange Mayor will guarantee that Charter Conventions in Pueblo City will never happen ever again, & therefore Constitutional Revolutions in Pueblo City will be forever declared legally dead.
Why don't you just rip Marilyn's heart out in front of her, & hold it in front of her as she dies? Jeez Louise.
A simple majority vote by council on a Resolution currently removes the City Manager. Strange Mayor guarantees a strongarm Tyrant at the helm, for at least 5 fkn years, on the first swipe.
By forgoing (& gutting completely out) a Charter Convention, it's quite apparent that the secret cabal who crafted this legislation-turned-constitutional torpedo ballot question didn't want to work with anybody else outside of their little country club circle. Why hold a legitimate Charter Convention, where they would have had to invite the public to help craft the new Charter, & then the new Charter would be put forth to the people per special election, so as to give them plenty of time to look at & analyze the full effects & ramifications of such a grave decision, when they can just hold their own private Charter Conventions, crafting the brand new government in the comfort of the homes & private jets of their friends & families & wealthy donors? Dicatorships are so much easier to run. Their genius is in their simplicity. 3 branches of government is too cumbersome for the proponents of the tyranny of Big Daddy Strange.
7 out of 7 voted for this "Brand New City Constitution" ballot question, so it was unanimously chosen to be put on the ballot. In order to get a Charter Convention, only 5 out of 7 city council members needed to vote for it. In terms of city council votes, it would have been easier to vote for a Charter Convention than to get this explosive little ballot question onto the printed ballot sheets into the official record being mailed out October 15, 2017. Instead of going the proper way, the Nawrocki-Azad court voted unanimously 7 out of 7 to use the ballot question mechanism - initiative/referendum - to torpedo the 1954 Charter, to change the 3 branches of the Charter, to rip out the City Manager heart & soul of the 1954 Charter - the Charter Convention - which was codified purposely to protect our form of government from the whims of a dying breed of the Old Guard, without emotion, without shedding a crocodile tear for Pueblo City of the 1950s, for over 6 decades.
Codifying this illegal legislation-turned-constitutional torpedo ballot question document constructed at some secret & exclusive & probable illegal private country club charter convention will be the death knell of Pueblo City herself.
The only Saving Grace I can see, is that 5 out of 7 of the new City Council members can vote for a Charter Convention to straighten all of this bullshit out, the right & proper way, the democratic way, as is codified currently in our lovely & precious 1954 Charter. Strange Mayor will rape our lovely & precious 1954 Charter into a tyrannical totalitarian autocracy/monarchy/dictatorship.
My conclusion is still the same. Nick Gardisar's New 2017 anti-Revolutionary anti-"Charter Convention" Charter is a Dogshit Charter for Pueblo City. Vote no on Strange Mayor.
The aftermath of the downfall of Mufasa saw the dawn of Scar's hyena minions.
Vote fuck no on Big Daddy Strange.
3 Score & 3 Years Ago, Pueblo City constructed herself a Charter, a Constitutional Contract with her inhabitants of the City, which promised to always love & protect the good citizens of Pueblo City, always & forever, through the powerful "home rule" mechanism, giving Pueblo City lots of freedom, independence, & autonomy, to govern her own affairs.
Here's the "strange mayor" ballot question:
The above ballot language refers to the the full 10-page 70-Amendment "strong mayor" document.
Section 14-1
Here's Section 14-1 of the Country Club Anti-Revolutionary Charter:
Here's Section 14-1 of the 1954 Revolutionary Charter of autonomous Home Rule Pueblo City:
Notice that the 1954 Charter states: "There is hereby created a Department of Aviation, the head of which shall be the Director. The Department shall be responsible for such functions as shall be determined by resolution of the City Council."
The 2017 Charter reads: "There is hereby created a Department of Aviation, the head of which shall be a Director. The Department shall be responsible for such functions as shall be determined by ordinance of the City Council."
If Nick Gardisar's new skinny Charter becomes law, the City Council will have to control the Department of Aviation by Ordinance instead of by mere Resolution.
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The Brand Spanking New Section 4-2:
Notice the last sentence of Section 4-2:
"After having served two consecutive terms, the incumbent Mayor shall be ineligible to hold office thereafter."
"After having served two conservative terms..." is a loophole because a Mayor can be elected to 2 or 3 or 5 or 55 NONCONSECUTIVE terms.
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Even though there are 70 changes, i.e. Amendments, to the 1954 Charter, Mr. Nick Gardisar didn't change the sexist language of Section 3-11... on purpose?
The 2nd sentence of Section 3-11 is: "The City Clerk shall give notice of council meetings, keep a journal of its proceedings, authenticate by HIS signature and record in full in the book kept for the purpose, all ordinances and resolutions and shall perform such other duties as shall be required by this Charter or by ordinance."
Section 3-11 implies that City Clerks can only be men, which should surprise the current City Clerk, who is not a man. Mr. Nick Gardisar, the locomotive of "Strange Mayor", should have Amended Section 3-11 to be more inclusive, but he didn't. He "find & replaced" "City Manager" to "Mayor" on Section 3-11, but he left the obvious sexist language intact.
Women can be City Clerks too Nick!
But let's assume Nick just absent-mindedly overlooked this clear misogyny.
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The proposed Amendment to Section 6-4 is mysterious as fuck. The new language is incompatible with the old language.
Here's Section 6-4 from the 1954 Charter:
Here's Section 6-4 from the new proposed 2017 "skinny" Charter:
A City Employee isn't property, so this addition doesn't make any sense on it's face. The proposed new Section 6-4 reads: "Notice of Personal Injuries - Before the Municipal Government shall be liable for damages to a person injured on a street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, public place or way, or by a City employee acting within the course of employment, the person so injured, or someone in his behalf, shall notify the Municipal Government within the time period and manner required by the laws of the State of Colorado." Before the mysterious "City employee clause" was added to the "Notice of Personal Injuries" clause, the cities properties listed were as follows: street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, public place or way. All of these are outside places, involving roads. A "public place" could be a government building, but at no point did Section 6-4 protect any individual human rights, specifically "City employees".
The change is too specific, & it doesn't fit in the context it's inserted in. Speculation leads me to believe that some personal injury incident happened that involved a "City employee", & so, either retroactively, to cover up their crimes, or perhaps preventatively, to make sure it never happens again, Nick Gardisar's added that Amendment to Section 6-4 as part of his "Strong Mayor" bundle of changes.
I hope the "Strange Mayor" isn't trying to cover up some of his, or others, crimes retroactively. That's NOT Pueblo. Or maybe it is. Either way, covering up crimes is unacceptable, & if it's happening, it needs to stop.
Also once again, Mr. Gardisar didn't change the sexist language. Section 6-4 states: "someone in HIS behalf", as if the only people who can get injured in an alley or a public place or way, are men.
Women are just as capable of injuring themselves on Pueblo City's avenues & sidewalks just as men are, Nick!
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Nicholas Gardisar never even considered Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) aka Preferential Voting aka Ranked Choice Voting, because if he had, he would have seen it's the best goddamned electoral system for winner-take-all elections. Mr. Gardisar made the election for Big Daddy Strange slightly more progressive than a simple "highest vote getter" plurality election, by adding 1 runoff election to be held in December.
The only fair election for "winner-take-all" Presidential Elections is IRV. 1 puny tiny little runoff election isn't good enough for me.
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Never Forget April 6, 1954. Every true blue Puebloan knows what April 6, 1954 means. Every true blue Puebloans knows how powerful democracy is, how powerful running their own lives, of governing themselves, of us governing ourselves, truly means. April 6, 1954 is Pueblo City's Independence Day. #pueblopride
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Tucked inside Nick Gardisar's Section 5-1 is this sentence: "Each Municipal Judge shall be appointed by the Mayor for a term of two years and may be removed by the Mayor for cause."
Section 5-1 used to say: "Each Municipal Judge shall be appointed by the Council for a term of two years and may be removed by the Council for cause."
The Judges used to be appointed by City Council, & fired by City Council. Now, the Mayor will handle that. The Legislative check on the Judiciary has been eliminated, & by placing the entire Judicial Branch to serve "at the pleasure" of the Executive Branch, the new skinny Charter eliminates an Independent Judiciary.
While the Legislative Power of Hiring & Firing the Judiciary has been stripped, City Council still gets to keep a small new check with their Confirmation Powers. So not only can the Strange Mayor hire & fire all of the City's Judges, but Strange Mayor can hire as many Judges as he pleases, with Council Confirmation.
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While the assumption that Pueblo City must follow the American & the Colorado Constitutions is already true, the new authors of the 2017 Strange Mayor Electoral Coup Detat felt the need to assert that fact in numerous places.
Section 3-5 (i):
Section 4-4 (m):
Section 7-16:
Could Pueblo County officials be jealous of Pueblo City's Home Rule Autonomy, since Pueblo County is just an administrative unit of the State, and Pueblo City is her own municipality?
What's next? Will these basterds gut Pueblo City's sacred Charter Convention Clause too? They wouldn't dare... would they?
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Park Employees can be appointed as Special Policemen.
The term "policeman" is sexist. Women can be police officers too Nick!
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Section 3-14 takes some of the Chief Executive's power away from the Chief Executive, specifically in regards to: "transacting financial business of the City to furnish bonds with such surety and in such amounts as the Council may determine."
The City Manager had the power to "to furnish bonds with such surety", but under Mayor Strange, only the unelected Director of Finance gets that power. Not the Mayor. The Mayor doesn't have this same power that the City Manager was.
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Here's another interesting passage Section 8-14 (p) (which exist in both the Revolutionary Charter & the Anti-Revolutionary one):
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Section 4-1 of the Revolutionary 1954 Charter specifically mentions that the City Manager shall be appointed "on the basis of administrative and executive qualifications with special reference to his actual experience in and his knowledge of accepted practice in respect to the duties of his office as hereafter set forth." The main purpose of having a City Manager form of government was to eliminate the politics out of deciding on the Chief Executive. 1954 Pueblo City wanted a non-partisan Professional Chief Executive, who had good administrative skills.
Strange Mayor calls for a partisan, without regard to their administrative skills.Section 4-3 of the 1954 Charter documented how to get rid of a City Manager. For City Council to fire the City Manager, they need a Majority Vote ("The Council shall appoint the City Manager for an indefinite term and may remove him by majority vote of its members."), & a 30 day notice ("At least thirty (30) days before such removal shall become effective, the Council shall by majority vote of its members, adopt a resolution stating the reasons for his removal.").
Both Sections 4-1 & 4-3 have been eliminated in new form of government Nick Gardisar & Friends are imposing upon Pueblo City. Instead of City Council being able to Fire the Chief Executive "at-will" (with a 30 day notice), now City Council & all of Pueblo City will have to endure the Chief Executive for their entire 4 year term, or 5 year term (for the 23rd Mayor of Pueblo City).
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If a City Council member misses 2 City Council meetings within the span of 1 year without a "reasonable excuse", they lose their seat.
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I'm not sure if Section 4-6 eliminates all of the Departments, or if this section is being added to the previous Section 4-6.
The 1954 Charter listed all 10 Departments of the City.
These are the 10 Departments listed:
1- Aviation
2- Finance
3- Fire
4- Health
5- Law
6- Parks and Recreation
7- Personnel
8- Police
9- Public Works
10- Purchasing
The "Mayor's cabinet" forces them all to work under Dr. Strange.
There's 15 Departments listed in the Ballot Language (top picture).
These 5 Departments were listed in the Ballot Language, but they weren't listed in either Charter:
1- Planning & Community
2- Housing & Citizen Services
3- Wastewater
4- Storm Water
5- Information Technology
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The most heartbreaking part of Gardisar's skinny charter is that the Charter Convention Clause, the heart & soul of the legal foundation of an autonomous Home Rule Pueblo City for the last 63 years, has been gutted out, & ripped out of our revolutionary souls, leaving an empty shell, an empty husk of a former revolutionary document in it's wake.
A Home Rule Charter without a Charter Convention Clause is like a Union who signs their Strike Powers away. Without The Strike, what leverage does a Union even have?
This section being ripped out of Pueblo City's heart should be held akin to the sleeping pills that stopped Marilyn Monroe's beating heart. The aftermath of the downfall of Mufasa saw the dawn of Scar's hyena minions.
Nick Gardisar's efforts is akin to an anti-revolutionary electoral coup detat. Not only did Nick Gardisar purposely forgo a Charter Convention, as Pueblo City's laws requires, but he's also ripping out that section he's illegally acting against.
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List of 14 Facts About The Proposed "Mein Fuhrer" Tyranny of Question 2A:
-Department of Aviation will be governed by Ordinace now, instead of Resolution.
-Unlimited Non-consecutive Mayoral Terms. There's a loophole to the Term Limits for Big Daddy Strange. As long as Mayors never serve consecutive terms, they can be Mayor for life. Mayors are only required to step down after 2 "consecutive" terms. The last sentence of Section 4-2: "After having served two consecutive terms, the incumbent Mayor shall be ineligible to hold office thereafter." The Term Limit loophole allows a Mayor to be elected to 2 or 3 or 5 or 55 NONCONSECUTIVE terms. Theoretically, you could have two folks, a man & a woman, who just alternate the Mayoral terms, until they both die off.
-Nick never even considered IRV; IRV protects Independents; 2 Party system is anti-IRV because they're not for fair democracies; City Manager system takes the politics out of deciding on the Chief Executive; Strange Mayor calls for a partisan, without regard to their administrative skills; Strange Mayor puts partisan politics back into the Chief Executive decision; of course they're against 3 party independents; they're 3rd party racists; 1 puny tiny little runoff election isn't good enough for me.
-many extra clauses were added reasserting we must abide to the state & federal government constitutions, almost as if they're begging to lose our constitutional Home Rule standing; Strange Mayor is sliding towards being a stupid administrative unit of the state, like the county is;
-Pueblo City won't have an Independent Judiciary; Municipal Court will merely serve at the flippant pleasure of the Mayor; Council doesn't appoint or fire Municipal Court Judges no more; Strange Mayor does; Section 5-1: "Each Municipal Judge shall be appointed by the Mayor for a term of two years and may be removed by the Mayor for cause."
-a major "You're Fired" legislative check on the executive branch is forever eliminated; Strange mayor doesn't change budget or hiring & firing powers for Shitty Council; they do, however, get Confirmation Powers;
-"by a City employee acting within the course of employment"; Section 6-4; greater protections for injuries city employees commit against the public if they're "acting within the course of employment". Section 6-4 (1954) begins as: "Notice of Personal Injuries - Before the Municipal Government shall be liable for damages to a person injured on a street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, public place or way, or..." ... "by a City employee acting within the course of employment" (2017);
-Park Employees can be appointed as "Special Policemen".
-Strong mayor? Section 3-14 gives the City Manager the power "to furnish bonds with such surety", but under Mayor Strangelove, only the unelected Director of Finance gets that power. Not the Mayor. The Mayor doesn't have this same power that the City Manager was. Strong mayor? What kind of strong mayor can't sign the city's checks?
-to fire the City Manager, there's only 2 requirements: 1) a Majority Vote ("The Council shall appoint the City Manager for an indefinite term and may remove him by majority vote of its members."), &; 2) a 30 day notice ("At least thirty (30) days before such removal shall become effective, the Council shall by majority vote of its members, adopt a resolution stating the reasons for his removal.")
-the 1st, or actually 23rd, Mayor, will be elected to a 5-year reich.
-the "Mayor's cabinet" language was added to our beloved progressive & revolutionary & precious 1954 Charter. All true blue Puebloans love their Charters, 1911 Charter & the 1954 Charter, & they dream of writing a brand new Charter - i.e. Constitutional Revolution - every single fkn year!
-These are the 10 specific Departments (led by unelected executive directors) listed in the 1954 Charter:
1- Aviation
2- Finance
3- Fire
4- Health
5- Law
6- Parks and Recreation
7- Personnel
8- Police
9- Public Works
10- Purchasing
-These 5 Departments were listed in the Ballot Language, but they weren't listed in either Charter:
1- Planning & Community
2- Housing & Citizen Services
3- Wastewater
4- Storm Water
5- Information Technology
xxx
5 Changes Not Made:
1- No Bill of Rights;
2- No Ombudsman/Ombudswoman;
3- No Citizen's Oversight & Complaint Board; all 3 branches are fundamentally changed, but not the all-powerful 4th Branch;
4- No Popular Democracy; Popular Democracy requires that all department chiefs must be elected; the Police & Fire Chiefs should be popularly elected; all of the 15 Department Directors should be elected: Finance Chief; Health Czar/City Manager; Law King; Parks & Recreation President; Personnel Executive Director; Aviation Queen/Mayor; Public Works Leader; Purchasing Head Motivator/Superintendent; Planning & Community God; Housing & Citizen Services Quarterback/Judge; Wastewater Attorney General/Governor; Storm Water District Attorney, &, of course; the Heavyweight Information Technology Champion of the World;
5- Chock full of easily remedied normative sexist & frankly misogynistic language;
Overall, strange major is superfluous. We already have a strong chief executive, & replacing a strong chief executive with another strong chief executive doesn't change shit. We already have a strong Chief Executive. We don't need another.
Instead of tyranny & slavery, what Pueblo City should consider trying, is democracy & liberation.
1954 was when Marilyn married & divorced Joe DiMaggio, when "The 7 Year Itch" came out, & when Marilyn took her famous iconic white skirt blowing in the wind while she was standing over a NYC subway grate publicity shoot. 1954 was the height of Marilyn's career. 1954 is also when Pueblo City got herself a brand spanking new Home Rule Charter.
Passing strange mayor is the equivalent of burning Marilyn Monroe in effigy for eternity.
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School was built in 1954. The Pueblo Airport began commercial service in 1954. I-25, i.e. the Pueblo Freeway, was constructed in 1954. The Parks System consolidated & expanded substantially in 1954.
I don't see how any freedom-loving American can accept just some weird ass Strange Mayor, who just comes marching here into our own beloved small town, into our Pueblo City, into our down-home-country-big-city-small-town community, & just guts the shit out of Pueblo City's 1954 Charter. Strange Mayor rips Pueblo City's revolutionary entrails clean out. The anti-Revolutionary Strange Mayor will guarantee that Charter Conventions in Pueblo City will never happen ever again, & therefore Constitutional Revolutions in Pueblo City will be forever declared legally dead.
Why don't you just rip Marilyn's heart out in front of her, & hold it in front of her as she dies? Jeez Louise.
A simple majority vote by council on a Resolution currently removes the City Manager. Strange Mayor guarantees a strongarm Tyrant at the helm, for at least 5 fkn years, on the first swipe.
By forgoing (& gutting completely out) a Charter Convention, it's quite apparent that the secret cabal who crafted this legislation-turned-constitutional torpedo ballot question didn't want to work with anybody else outside of their little country club circle. Why hold a legitimate Charter Convention, where they would have had to invite the public to help craft the new Charter, & then the new Charter would be put forth to the people per special election, so as to give them plenty of time to look at & analyze the full effects & ramifications of such a grave decision, when they can just hold their own private Charter Conventions, crafting the brand new government in the comfort of the homes & private jets of their friends & families & wealthy donors? Dicatorships are so much easier to run. Their genius is in their simplicity. 3 branches of government is too cumbersome for the proponents of the tyranny of Big Daddy Strange.
7 out of 7 voted for this "Brand New City Constitution" ballot question, so it was unanimously chosen to be put on the ballot. In order to get a Charter Convention, only 5 out of 7 city council members needed to vote for it. In terms of city council votes, it would have been easier to vote for a Charter Convention than to get this explosive little ballot question onto the printed ballot sheets into the official record being mailed out October 15, 2017. Instead of going the proper way, the Nawrocki-Azad court voted unanimously 7 out of 7 to use the ballot question mechanism - initiative/referendum - to torpedo the 1954 Charter, to change the 3 branches of the Charter, to rip out the City Manager heart & soul of the 1954 Charter - the Charter Convention - which was codified purposely to protect our form of government from the whims of a dying breed of the Old Guard, without emotion, without shedding a crocodile tear for Pueblo City of the 1950s, for over 6 decades.
Codifying this illegal legislation-turned-constitutional torpedo ballot question document constructed at some secret & exclusive & probable illegal private country club charter convention will be the death knell of Pueblo City herself.
The only Saving Grace I can see, is that 5 out of 7 of the new City Council members can vote for a Charter Convention to straighten all of this bullshit out, the right & proper way, the democratic way, as is codified currently in our lovely & precious 1954 Charter. Strange Mayor will rape our lovely & precious 1954 Charter into a tyrannical totalitarian autocracy/monarchy/dictatorship.
My conclusion is still the same. Nick Gardisar's New 2017 anti-Revolutionary anti-"Charter Convention" Charter is a Dogshit Charter for Pueblo City. Vote no on Strange Mayor.
The aftermath of the downfall of Mufasa saw the dawn of Scar's hyena minions.
Vote fuck no on Big Daddy Strange.
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