Ant Alert: Ants Crawls Across TV Screen

In a fun experiment to extend the reach of our message, The Red Ant is filming a few Grassroots TV shows focused on the amusing activities in the Ant Hill at Hopkins and Galena.

Tune in and give us feedback and ideas for future shows. The first two shows air this week, beginning this morning on Channel 12 locally. ADDITIONALLY, simultaneous video streaming on the internet at http://www.grassrootstv.org/liveweb.html

will allow you to watch the show at your desk, if you cannot access local Aspen TV channels. (If you work for the City, The Ant counsels against watching us at your desk!)

"Ants in the Auditors' Pants"

and

"Worker Ants Want A Raise"

click below to see air times and descriptions.

"Ants in the Auditors' Pants"

Guests: Paul Menter- Former Finance Director, City of Aspen Mike Maple- Developer, Member of Burlingame Construction Experts Task Force We will discuss the management problems noted in the auditors' Burlingame reports, and worse, the City's attempt to mislead the public on the unfavorable results. The Ant mentioned this in Issue # 3 (found at www.TheRedAnt.com ). Misrepresenting auditors' reports is such egregious behavior that we are not nearly ready to march on and leave this serious breach of ethics unaddressed. Broadcast times are (all Mountain Daylight Times): Tuesday, Sept 2, 10:30 a.m.; Friday; Sept 5, 1:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept 6, 10 a.m.; Saturday, Sept. 6, 8 p.m.; Channel 12 and http://www.grassrootstv.org/liveweb.html.

"Worker Ants Want A Raise"

Declaring Council positions as 40+ hour per week jobs, Mayor Mick decreed that compensation should be higher than the 2x increase submitted by Councilman Johnson. Claiming that Council is the subject of considerable "abuse" from citizens, and this justifies even greater salary increases, the Mayor declared that this abuse at the hands of citizens creates difficulty in attracting Council candidates. The newspapers then neglected to report what we felt was the most astounding position expressed by the Mayor, as he vowed his "refusal to accept the CEO form of local government," which has been our Charter-authorized form of (Council-Manager) government for decades. Our ANTennae are up! )

In second Red Ant Show, frequent Council candidate and local policy wonk, Andrew Kole and Marilyn discuss issues of Council pay and responsibilities and the upcoming formation of a Council-appointed citizens' committee to study those matters.
Broadcast Times are: Tuesday, Sept. 2, 11 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept 3, 12:30 a.m.
Friday, Sept 5, 8 a.m.
Saturday, Sept 6, 6 p.m.
Channel 12 and http://www.grassrootstv.org/liveweb.html.

Comments

[Jim DeFrancia]

My biggest counter to the argument for increased Council salaries is that they are not warranted because the Council is inefficient in its use of time. It SHOULD function as a board that addresses policy issues and instead they micro-manage and absorbe themselves in unwarranted detail.

Take land use as an example. The fine Staff studies applications and forms recommendations. Then the unpaid P&Z has hearings, asks questions and studies applications further in order to make a recommendation.

At that point an EFFICIENT Council need only look at the recommendations and insure that they comply with broad policy and be done with it. If the recommendations vary (between Staff and P&Z) then Council has somewhat more work to do in understanding and resolving the conflicting recommendations.

But what Council actually does is largely ignore all the prior work and recommendations of Staff and P&Z and starts afresh in minute detail. That is NOT what a COuncil is supposed to do.

They are "overworked" because they choose to be, and that is because they are not efficient.