Opinion: Bullies don’t belong on City Council
By Kathryn Reed
Politicians are elected to SERVE the public.
Many seem to have forgotten that. They have their own agendas. They want to represent a few instead of the majority. They forget about doing what’s right for the greater good and refuse to put aside personal opinions. And it’s not just happening in Washington, D.C.
The Oct. 15 South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting was embarrassing to sit through.
Once again the topic of banning plastic bags was before the council. It’s been talked about for four years, but by the way some councilmembers act it’s like the ban is a new idea.
What was so horrendous is how Councilwoman JoAnn Conner treated the people who spoke in favor of the ban. And then how Mayor Tom Davis allowed her to get away with it. The mayor is supposed to run the meeting and have control. Clearly, that was not the case on Tuesday.
They are also the only two who for the second meeting in a row voted the same way – against the ban.
Eleven of the 13 members of the public who spoke Tuesday favor banning single-use plastic bags.
Conner was combative after nearly every single pro bag banner spoke. She bantered with them, questioning in a harsh tone as though her only intent was to belittle them.
The point of public comment is for the council to listen. Questions should be to clarify something, not to degrade the person for their opinion. The public is not there for an inquisition. No one should be vilified for his or her opinion.
There are ways to disagree and still be respectful. But Conner should not have even been engaging these people in conversation in the first place.
If that is the new norm for how the public will be treated, I would think the number of people coming forward at future council meetings would diminish.
When it came time for the councilmembers to give their comments Conner went on a rant. This is supposed to be the time when the council members state their opinions and try to convince their colleagues to vote with them.
Not so with Conner.
At no time did she even have eye contact with the other four electeds. Instead, she stared at the audience – the ones who had just spoken and the few others in attendance. She chastised them, practically ridiculed them, and scolded them as though their opinion were irrelevant.
Wake up Conner. You were elected to represent all 20,000-plus residents, not just your opinion or the ones who call you. Have you ever thought that those who disagree with you are afraid to call because of the way you treat people in public? One can only imagine the venom that might spew from you in private.
One has to wonder why the mayor didn’t take control of the meeting. Was it because Conner was his only ally on this topic?
Davis said he would rather support a statewide plastic ban. It’s likely another such bill will circulate through the Legislature after the first of the year. Normally Davis is one for local control and doesn’t like to abdicate his authority to others.
But by getting the council to write a letter in support of the statewide ban with his signature on it while he is still mayor, he comes out looking good even if it never goes anywhere in Sacramento.
He constantly says there is no plastic bag problem in Tahoe, then cites Clean Tahoe and South Tahoe Refuse. Maybe you don’t see the problem because they do such a good job. The problem, though, Mr. Mayor, goes beyond whether you see a bag on the street or in the lake. The problem is in the landfills as well as with wildlife.
And Mr. Mayor, since you are a board member of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, one would think you would have insider info about the hazards of plastic and wild animals.
I’m not saying we should have 5-0 votes on the council. Disagreement is fine – even good at times. But decorum should be mandatory.
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And for the record: I am against the plastic bag ban because I don’t want government telling me what to do. However, I think it’s good for the city to set a standard of environmental stewardship. If I were on the council, I would have voted for the ban because it’s for the greater good.
Kae,
If you think banning the plastic bag is for the public good and if you were a council member you would have voted to ban, then perhaps you are not so much against banning plastic bags as you are against government intrusion into private lives.
I have seen Joanne in action recently, in public, speaking in an aggressive( I know the difference between discourse and diatribe)manner. A man was discussing the ban with her, and then made the mistake of telling her that he agreed with the decision of the council. You would think he had attempted to microwave her cat, the ferocity of her responses. He stated his reasons for supporting the ban locally and statewide, acknowledging that a ban iis not a perfect solution, but supporting anyway because it’s the right thing to do, in his opinion. Joanne’s main points seemed to be the cost, the inconvenience upon our low wage earners who must walk through the snow (I like sidewalks!)and trundle those expensive germ riddled reusable cloth bags to the laundromat(No discussion of minimum wage increase, of course) the hypocrisy of those who drive to city council meetings. Oh and educating people about alternatives to plastic bags rather than legislating change. The conversation(?) went back and forth for several minutes. There was definitely a lecturing, interrogative tone to not only what she was saying, but how she was saying it. I was surprised, for I thought people were allowed to have their own opinions in this country, all the better if they are well thought out and considerate of multiple perspectives. Better still if they are civil. I went on my way doubting whether that person will vote for her reelection. I know I won’t.
Kae, you called this one right. Joann is a bully and its deplorable. Abuse of position and power. We don’t have to put up with this, and the rest of council shouldn’t have allowed it either. For those of you who didn’t witness Joann’s horrible treatment of the public, you need to go to the city’s website and watch yesterday’s meeting. But don’t stop there, watch any of the meetings, she attacks every one, it is her MO. Voters time and again whine as if there is nothing they can do, we don’t have to put up with this for the next three years. Her treatment of the public is deplorable and shouldn’t be tolerated. If we tolerate it, we accept it.
Joann’s conduct isn’t merely a distraction nor is it limited to council meetings. Whether the rest of the council realize it or not, she trashes all of them whenever she can, she says nothing positive about the city and has not offered a single idea to move the city forward. We didn’t elect people to the council to create more conflict, and disrespect us the voters, she’s an embarrassment and we don’t have to tolerate this. If the Council can’t put a stop to this behavior, the voters should.
Ok lets stick to the topic here. I applaud Kae for illuminating what has been obvious for some time watching the city council sessions on TV. JoAnne Connor needs to back off and remember she is a public servant, not public tyrant. Mayor Davis, please get control of your council members, even when they are on your side. And Tom, lets not reverse course on government philosophy out of convenience and pretend you think local government should take a back seat to the state.
Regarding this government intrusion topic everybody is so confused about. Anyone remember the Venn Diagram from grade school? A few circles that intersect at the middle. Think of these circles as people’s rights. If you draw enough circles and they all intersect and overlap at the middle it gets real thick in there. So what you have is everybody claiming their rights to this and rights to that and my freedom to do this and that. Real black in the middle. At some point a civilized society needs to recognize there is a greater good and stop claiming their circles all the time clogging up the middle with, in this case, their rights to generate endless plastic debris into the environment. Take a breath and take a break from the ‘government intrusion’ crap.
Government intrusion brought us the ‘shame’ of fire departments, public education, consistent roads, health codes, labor laws, registering of sex offenders, integration, kids pajamas that don’t ignite….to name a few ‘nanny state’ intrusions’.
Atomic, Joann’s conduct IS the topic of this article and discussion. An article on plastic bags is also posted today on ltn. But, I completely agree that Joann’s a become a public tyrant. I also applaud Kae for doing the right thing to call attention to this. People all over town are talking about how terrible Joann is, its more than just belittling though, she ripping speakers to shreds for exercising their public opinion. If the city wants public involvement and they invite particilation, they better let people speak. Who does she think she is ? Kae’s right, electeds are supposed to represent all of us, not their personal agendas or friends.
….when I wrote there was only one comment, the first one.
Good piece. I have missed your editorials Kae. I wish you would write them more often. The public needs to hear your straight forward plain speaking thoughts.
Conner is rough around the edges. Very rough. Unfortunately we have three more years of her. Luckily, Davis only has one.
Conner only has three more years if we allow it. She’s not just rough around the edges, she’s a bully. Kae called this one right on target. its too easy to make excuses for people who mistreat others. Recall her while there’s plenty of time to get someone else seated. I too have seen her in action Sour Grapes. Whether the conversation is one on one, and my advice is never put yourself in that position, or in a group setting, she attacks every point like she’s got a personal vendetta against it. She’s even said how much she hates being on council and how terrible it is. I was at a meeting recently where that came up (she wasn’t there) and everyone had a similar story about what’s she had done to them or said. When an elected official is this bad one year in, don’t wait for it to get worse . Recall. I’ll put my money into that.
The rest of city council has been finally on the right tract investing our money into our community, long overdue. We need people on council willing to hear ideas and focus on getting things done. We literally cannot afford to lose the progress we’re making. My business needs the tahoe valley area plan and we need good elected leaders. Her conduct is astonishingly horrible, but seems to be a long standing pattern given all the stories. We’ve got a meeting of several folks tonight on the recall effort and if it gets underway we’ll be sure to post the information.
Good article Kae. My wife and I experienced her when we went garage saleing (sp)in her neighborhood. Somehow the topic of plastic bags came up and by the way she went on and on, even though we were pro banning, we didn’t bring it up because we knew she wouldn’t listen to us. People like her only have mouths, no ears.
I will take it a step further. This is the problem with our legislature. People who are like her don’t belong in politics because they are unwilling to listen let alone compromise on issues. Who knows what the percentage is, but I would say it would characterize most of our politicians. No wonder very little gets done. It is a good thing to have passion for something, but when our views are so adamant that we are unwilling to listen to other viewpoints, then it is time to go.
How about bullies who work for the municipality Ms. Reed? I don’t see you taking issue with government employees.
There are government employees running around who should be terminated, and if they had worked in the private sector, they would have been long gone. They act like little tyrants.
At least you can vote council people away. Perhaps LTN could be more objective and focus on the tyrannical actions of government’s finest.
Thank you Kae for writing a truthful commentary on JoAnn Conner’s behavior. I agree with every observation that you stated and think Conner’s bullying behavior is so incredulous that she leaves the majority of the City Council and the City staff so shell-shocked they’re practically unable to respond. Conner also participates in agenda items and votes on matters in which she should recuse herself such as anything having to do with special events since she is a Special Events Promoter and during those discussions has on numerous occasions referenced her expertise in that field since it is “her perspective from being in that same industry”. That’s a conflict of interest and in direct violation of the Brown Act, and the new City Attorney will need to start confronting Conner and advise her of such.
My hope is that JoAnn Conner will be so angry at being criticized that she’ll just fix all of us ingrates and resign from the City Council. If not then a public recall should be initiated. I’d rather pay the costs of a special election than have this person remain on the Council for the next 3-years who goes into every meeting with her mind made up on a matter before the staff report is ever presented or Council/public comments taken, only represents who and what she wants, and ignores what’s in the overall best interest of the City of South Lake Tahoe and this community. She’s a bully and an embarrassment.
my point again affirmed: austin “venn” sass
Any talk of recall should be nipped in the bud. To spend money on a recall because of an over bearing personality trait would be utterly ridiculous, not too mention fiscally irresponsible.
We should though use this as a reminder to all the citizens of the City of South Lake Tahoe that being informed AND involved in elections on a local level is very important. There will be three seats available next year, so maybe it’s time to take this stuff seriously.
So the cats out of the bag on whom I was talking about in the last article. Good one Kae
Being disrespectful is not Ok. Having said that, 5-0 votes, most of the time, are also not Ok. If thats what people want, the get along go along approach, then we only need a one member council or board to make all the decisions for us. Do we want that?
Well said Lou, I thoroughly agree. Likely JoAnn will soften her edges, I’m sure she is capable of that. Dissent with class.
So, I hope Lira’s sales go way up. . . they’re not in the city limits and therefore are not bound by this silly new law.
More laws are not what we needed; maybe if the laws against littering were enforced more stringently, it wouldn’t have come to this. Are we now going to ban single serve food and drink packaging? Those bags and bottles litter our roadways too. How many times to do you see cigarette butts on the side of the road and on the trails and beaches? Every doggoned day.
The right way to deal with this is not to take away people’s freedom to choose packaging. Make it your business when you see someone being a pig and littering. SAY something. Shame them. Don’t make the bully government do your dirty work for you.
Biggerpicture:
I agree with your comments that the citizens of SLT need to be better informed and involved in local elections but I have to disagree that it would be fiscally irresponsible to conduct a recall and special election in this instance. JoAnn Conner hasn’t even served a full year of her term yet and I think that the damage she could wreak in another 3-years is too great a risk. This community needs to move forward and I don’t think she has the ability to see or understand the big picture (not meant personally and no pun intended). I think that she’s the epitome of scouring the ground for nickels and dimes while the folding paper money is flying over her head on the breeze. That added to her other shortcomings makes me question her competence.
I wonder if she’ll offer an apology for her bad behavior at the City Council’s next meeting?
Kae, Thank you for having tha balls to say OUT LOUD what so many have expressed soto voche. I reluctantly admit having voted for Joann because friends convinced me she represented the “little people”. To say she has failed expectation utterly would be an understatement. Recall……….I’m in.
I will simply stand on my response to that “next item”, ‘reaffirming the plastic bag’. . .but the democratic process includes opinion not the “same as yours” (called tolerance). . .
To quote a recently ‘re-done’ cliche’: “ignorance is bliss, unless you’re surrounded by it”. . .
Wow, I had no idea what she was like. Hope she will tone it down, so our city doesn’t have to spend a lot of money to recall her.
I agree JoAnn was a bit pushy yesterday. But Kae, you attend the TRPA Board meetings. I expect you have seen when Board members have bullied each other (in fact, the City’s past Mayor Claire F. was one of the top offenders – just as former GB member Mara Bresnick), and when they have bullied the public. Those direct and personal attacks are not about debating facts as JoAnn’s were. But bad behavior by our public officials has never warranted a news story before. Why now, and why JoAnn?
Although the attention to detail is good, it is also discouraging that the City Council is so interested in debating facts about the plastic bag ban, but when it comes to the future development of the City that allows more 6-story buildings, more traffic, and creates an economic situation that will push out the locals in favor of large resort companies, the discussions are short and interest in the facts minimal. JoAnn has been the only Council member asking questions about facts of the Tourist Core Area Plan, instead of just going along with the public relations spin.
Maybe she had one bad day. How about asking her about it? Either way, let’s start paying equal attention to the behavior of ALL of our elected officials, regardless of their politics.
This is somewhat off topic, but it is mentioned in the article that plastic bags are a problem with landfills and wildlife while seemingly agreeing that littering with them is not the issue.
I am not in favor of the plastic bag ban but could be convinced to change my mind. I have tried to find evidence of the problems but most resources cite the problems of plastic in general and are not specific to plastic bags.
Kae: Can you provide us with references to research that leads to the conclusion that plastic bags are such a problem to wildlife or landfills that a ban is justified?
There’s a lot of grocery stores outside of South Lake Tahoe. Someone mentioned Lira’s. There are plenty in Douglas County too.
If the stores in the City of South Tahoe charge for paper bags, I will gladly take my patronage elsewhere.
Bronco Billy, who is Austin “venn” sass? Why would stores charge for paper bags when they already give them away for free? Man, this Conner is a real drag. And three more years because Frank we all know no one gets recalled in this town.
JoAnn is stuck in the past and exactly what SLT does NOT need to progress.
I support the ban. The information on the problem with plastic and single use plastic bags is prolific. I think charging 5-10 cents per bag is well worth the investment in the health of the planet.
http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/2010/08/10-reasons-why-single-use-plastic-bags-blow/
http://www.envirosax.com/plastic_bag_facts/
Do you people really think that you haven’t already been paying for bags? Honestly, wake up.
Yes, Conner has been a disappointment. She’s gone next election.
So avi8tor you will spend $20 bucks on gas to save a nickel?
No Arod, she was elected last year, so her seat will come up for re-election in 2016.
“No one should be vilified for his or her opinion.”
I almost got stuck at this sentence. I wholeheartedly agree but it seems that, in most cases, here on this site, that opinions give way to name calling, political party baiting and generally non-productive banter and diatribe. I read most of the responses to articles for their entertainment value and to laugh out loud at the ridiculous comments from some of the regulars (you know who you are).
That being said, I agree that Joann has become a bully and should be told to slow her roll a bit. Belittling others for their opinions, no matter whether you agree or not, is not the way for a councilperson to act. Tom Davis needs to reign her in a bit.
From a curious standpoint, does anyone else on this site have concerns regarding the cleanliness of shopping carts?
Kae,
Nice hit piece you did on JoAnn Conner. She spoke her mind on the plastic bag ban and now a bunch of folks here at LTN have jumped on the band wagon. Trashing her with all kinds of name calling and asking for her ouster, and this was all over plastic shopping bags?
What about the huge piles of garbage bags filled with pine needles and lawn clippings? Exempt? I guess so.
I re-use my plastic shopping bags for a variety of things but mostly I use cloth bags that I bring to the store from home. Plastic bags are not that big of a deal and to trash a womans opinion over their use is out of line. Lighten up! Old Long Skiis
I found this OpEd simply appalling. If LTN wants to expose poor conduct at City Hall, look no further than some of the staff members who have a history of abusive & disrespectful conduct to members of the public.
Seems to me that Ms. Conner had an opinion – she’s entitled to it. While it may not have been supportive of the liberal narrative, she’s entitled to her opinion.
This Op-Ed piece was not over “plastic shopping bags” or the poor conduct of City staff. It was about an elected officials behavior and treatment of local citizens having an opposing opinion from said same elected official when those individuals were addressing the entire City Council during the public communications period of that agenda item. City Council Members are entitled to their opinions and so are local citizens who speak at Council meetings. It’s all about respect.
Sounds like this city member has been properly groomed for the TRPA Board !