"Hats off to Gorman and Riley!"

Mr. Tom Gorman of Fort Scott Truck and Tractor attended the Commission meeting Tuesday evening to question the bidding process on the airport equipment purchase. Joe Moses, an engineer hired by the city for the bidding process was also there to explain the process and answer questions from those concerned. I was glad to see him there considering the fact that at the June 7th meeting Commissioner Keating stated that it was brought to his attention that the specs provided by the engineer referenced a patented John Deere transmission which in his view made the bidding process unfair. I agree. At that meeting I asked the commissioners if it were possible for them to negotiate that with the engineers before making their decision. They stated that the FAA regulations required the equipment to be made in the USA as the reason that Deems John Deere of Nevada was the only responsive bidder. So they went on to vote at that meeting to make the purchase with them. At Tuesday's meeting Mr. Moses, (the engineer) attempted to explain his report in the best way possible. Tom Gorman was very polite and professional in his presentation too. He obviously did his homework before approaching the Commission. He questioned the process regarding bid specs and as to why his competitor, Tom Riley of R&R Equipment was considered by the engineer to have submitted an “unresponsive” bid. Mr. Gorman admitted that he had not responded to the bid because the specs appeared to him to not resemble a tractor at all. He also questioned the “Responsive” bid by Deems Implement in Nevada. It was good to see two local business owners of the community approach the Commission in support of each other, and the entire business community of Fort Scott. Mr. Gorman was presenting documents to support his argument, giving copies of letters to the Commission as well as the City manger, these documents and facts started to cause restlessness in the room. The last document Mr. Gorman provided was an un-signed letter dated back in March of 2005 which referenced a "local John Deere Dealer". When Tom asked who the letter was from, no one answered. With no reply he directly asked The City Manager, Mr. Moses and Don Russell if they sent it. There was quite a delay in response until Mr. Moses admitted that he had written the letter that referenced a "local John Deere Dealer." When I asked the engineer how he was lead to believe that their was a “local John Deere dealer, he didn't have a chance to respond before Don Russell interjected “in a newspaper ad!” This obvious, evasive, not taking immediate responsibility, sparked the attending Citizens to make comments that were out of order. Mr. Gorman stated that he felt that the Commissioners had been mislead by someone, however it was unclear just who. He did commend the city employees who provided him with all he asked for regarding the correspondence etc. I question, if there is nothing to hide, then why did it take more than one inquiry by Mr. Gorman for the responsible party to admit they wrote the letter? This meeting lasted about 3 hours and much of it was dedicated to this specific topic that involved very expert presentation from both Mr. Moses and Mr. Gorman. I feel that it is in order to post the following from the City Commission minutes from September 17, of 2002.


b. Utility Vehicle (Airport) Kenny Howard, Airport Manager, informed the
Commission that bids had recently been taken for a utility vehicle for the Airport.
This vehicle will be used for towing of airplanes and general maintenance. Mr.
Howard’s recommendation is for the 4 X 2 John Deere Gator in the amount of
$5,500.00 from Deems Farm Equipment of Nevada, Missouri. He has recently
tried out several from other bids that were received, but no others could match
the John Deere 4 X 2.

To me this has a familiar ring to it. I wonder if the other bids were "local" and lower than Deems at that time. I'm sure it is a matter of public record.

Commissioner Compares Meetings to "Smackdown"

I have respect for our new Commissioner Graham and his youthful spirit. I ofcourse first came to respect him right after losing to him in the Election last Spring. His campaign strategy is something I have learned from. But I certainly don't share his opinions on everything. I know part of his platform was repeating that he viewed the relationship between City Hall and the Citizens as an "Us vs. Them" atmosphere and that he wanted that to change. I agree with him on that, however, I think we disagree on just who is "us" and who is "them." Here is a recent excerpt from the Commissioners website, which by-the-way, I do think it is great that he is keeping his constituents updated daily on his views and what is going on at city hall. This excerpt is under the title

"Is it City Hall or Madison Square Garden?"

"I've been thinking about how wild the meetings can be, and how we can get them more organized, more streamlined. It's easy to see now why the move to have both meetings in the evenings got shot down, but I'm not sure how to make the evening ones go as smoothly as the morning ones. I can't believe I'm saying this, as I prefer to be awake during the meetings, but maybe we should have them both in the morning. The downside to that is that when people who don't usually attend want to speak their voice on a certain issue, that would really discourage them from attending. I'm not remotely comfortable with that. Somewhere there has to lie a compromise, because if things keep playing out like an episode of Smackdown, we're honestly gonna scare people and businesses away from coming at all. In fact I'd bet in some cases we already have."(-Commissioner Nick Graham)

I think by this statement the Commissioner is letting us all know just who he considers to be "US and THEM." I do think he fails to realize that it is very possible that citizens and businesses might just be inhibited from approaching the commission because of the lack of respect shown to citizens on many occassions. At the meeting that he is refering to, the Economic Developmet Director Don Russell, a city employee, publicly insulted the citizens in attendance by calling them a "Peanut Gallery." He was called out of order as well as former Commissioner Allen and myself. I was out of order for speaking out of turn, not making insults. I know it is hard to contain myself when getting insulted by someone, but I don't respond likewise. I know Kevin Allen took offense to Commissioner Wood stating the he is not a "citizen". This isn't the first and only meeting where a city employee, the Commission, Mayor and City Manager have been rude to the citizens. And as far as businesses being inhibited to attend? Most are running their business at 8:00am. If you own your business, your hours can be somewhat flexible, but then again their have been many business owners attend because they felt they have been unfairly treated by the city and it's not adhering to it's purchasing policy. (Remember the $20 "saved" on buying pipe in Nevada? My issue regarding the newest Fort Scott Billboard south of town, or most recently, at the last meetings the "Snow Removal Equipment" issue? What about the fact that it took a local businessman two requests to open a business. The first time denied by all but one commissioner, and this time voted no to by our Mayor. (It did pass.) I do hope that the $2,000 for a half-day sessions that the Commissioners will be taking part in, (presented by the City Manager's friends) will help the Commissioners to show more respect for ALL citizens, not just the ones they agree with. If that happens then it will be money well spent. Of the motivational husband and wife team, the husband was a former Commissioner and Mayor himself of another city. Perhaps Commissioner Graham can ask him what time their city held their meetings, and how they treated groups of concerned citizens in attendance. If the City Meetings are what the Commissioner compares to a "Smackdown" or Madison Square Garden, he should consider that it's not the fault of the citizens in attendance. And proposing to move them back to 8:00am is only telling the citizens that he has a way of making the meetings more inaccessable as his solution. This is an approach I certainly disagree with him on.