K.I.S.S. Rule…

Sometimes things in life just do NOT have to be complicated.  Adding too much into a process can often serve counter to the purpose to begin with.  For example, when writing a letter to elected representatives of We the People, the author should strive to get the point across in the opening paragraph.  Adding too much verbiage and details that can be brought up later will often cause the reader’s eyes to glaze over and their mind to gloss over the entire intent.

 

This is especially true when dealing with complex topics that have many facets to consider… such as mitigation efforts to stifle the potential spread of a contagion that could possibly pose a potential risk to segments of the population. The issues surrounding the Covid-19/Corona virus are a myriad of emotions and science that can easily be construed to portray whatever a person wants them to say. Currently the Dillingham City Council is striving to maintain operations in a manner to keep people safe… but the language of proposed ordinance 2020-22 is far to ambiguous and essentially places our community in a perpetual ‘State of Emergency’.

 

After various communications with just two of the elected representatives of the people of Dillingham, I can pretty much say that the City Council is not going to ‘table’ the ordinance during next week’s meeting.  They have repeatedly communicated that they are not willing to hold a public in-person forum so that We the People may redress our concerns about the language of 2020-22.  This is disappointing to say the least… but is also very indicative of the issues that We face in getting the governance that We deserve from Our government. 

 

K.I.S.S. - K.eep I.t S.imply S.simple

 

The US Constitution:

“Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

That word ‘Congress’ is interchangeable with any term used to describe any position of governance such as assembly or council. The US Constitution is not a granting of any rights… it is a document that defines what the government cannot do and what rights We the People have secured as Ours.  When a government entity takes it upon itself to grow bureaucracy and ignore the people, then it has out served its purpose and must be replaced in order to stop the potential for tyranny. 

REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE 5^TH OF NOVEMBER…

It's Our Government Folks...

 

Stop 2020-22 Sample Signs

It's easy to show your support for the call to the DLG City Council

Print Your Own Sign

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As November 5th Approaches... Remember, Remember...

 Madam Mayor and City Council Members,

There are facets of proposed ordinance 2020-22 that the public is becoming very vocal about and concerned. I once again write to You asking that this process be paused.  Theirs is no need to continue the growth of the bureaucracy in Dillingham because of an ‘emergency’.  Establishing expansive powers to be available in an emergency while under an ‘emergency’ is something that the people must be involved in and public awareness must be increased.  There are a lot of people in Dillingham that haven’t an idea about the mitigation provisions written into this ordinance.    

 

I would like to suggest that the Council consider putting any vote on Ordinance 2020-22 on hold until after an in-person public hearing is held where the people can all line up to speak to the issues on a first come, first serve basis.  Not in the typical format of speaking by appointment and by-favor, but one where the general public is allowed to be heard by the council and each other. There’s no reason that this cannot be held…and held very soon in the DHS Gymnasium with social distancing and masks.  

 

Thank You for your consideration in these matters and I look forward to hearing back from You.

Sincerely,

Jon Corbett 

So DLG… What’s Next?

 Over the past two weeks a collaboration of We the People in Dillingham has begun an effort to get the Dillingham City Council to hold off on taking any further action on ‘Emergency’ Ordinance 2020-22.  I know of at least a dozen or so letters that have been submitted to the Mayor and members of the council asking that the Ordinance be ‘tabled’ and a public forum styled meeting be held by the Council so that the citizens may voice in-person their concerns for this ever-growing ‘Emergency’ ordinance.  I personally only received a reply from the Mayor that was minimal at best… but that seems to be status quo for those supposed elected representatives of We the People.

 

The next City Council meeting is when they are supposed to take action to either ratify the new ‘Emergency’ ordinance or not.  As of today, no announcement has been made about holding off and pretty soon it may become totally apparent that Our government is not listening to the people they are supposed to be representing. It disgusts me that I have to write something so presumptuous about the council, but I can only base my thoughts of the facts. Now… I may be off-base completely because I am not in-the-know on a lot of things anymore since being deleted by fbook.  Maybe the DLG Citizens for Freedom group has made some progress in getting the Council to actually do their job… probably not though.

 

I did however pen and publish a letter to the council asking for a delay in action and I shared that letter far and wide.  I also quickly designed a few ‘print your own’ signs and sent them to the group email address.  This afternoon I plan to print and laminate some signs (samples below) and hang them in a few places.  I’ll make a few extras and if anyone wants one… y’all can figure out how to get in touch with me.

Link to PDF with additional styles: https://www.docdroid.net/rM4tMuS/stop-2020-22-pyo-signs-pdf

10-19-2020 through 10-23-2020 aka FRUSTRATION & FUTILITY

 On Monday, I posted a ranting about the newest version of the City of Dillingham’s proposed ‘Emergency’ ordinance as pertaining to the Covid-19 ‘crisis’.  In that ranting I used some stronger language than I normally do and I left out something that I usually proffer when I write about public issues, a suggested solution.  When I was asked about this, I had to stop and think about what a positive spun solution would look like.  I drew a blank…

 

This drawing of a blank is due to factors that are beyond my control and/or influence:

1.    Despite the overwhelming opposition to continued expansion of government powers of the people they are supposed to be representing, the elected officials in Dillingham have wholly chosen to ignore the people in favor of pandering to their good ole’ boy network of family, friends and co-workers. Those are the people that benefit the most from totalitarian governance and selective administration of the resources of the people. 

2.    I do on a regular basis reach out and submit comments, suggestions and complaints to my elected representatives in all 3 levels of Our government.  I rarely get any response from the federal level other than stock reply messages with no follow-up.  On the State level, I get a bit more interaction depending on which legislators I reach out to on topics.  I never get replies from Senator Hoffman… and the only replies I’ve ever received from Representative Edgmon are complaints and admonishments based on my written rants.  Nary a reply to positive action suggestions on topics like intrastate drug trafficking, high shipping costs or helping our neighboring communities.  The same rings entirely true with my interactions with local elected officials… and I know that I am not the only one that has experienced these circumstances while dealing with the governments of We the People.  

3.    Trying to play nice or using honey to attract interaction is proving to be a futile effort in today’s socio-political environment. So many people have been sucked into the self-glorification of politics and power that they have forgotten the basics of the American way and dream.  When I write to Our representatives on issues and such; I always remain civil, factual and offer thought out suggestions/solutions. For example… as a founding member of the fbook group called ‘theBAYpac’, I led the authoring of several pieces aimed at addressing some rather serious socio-economic issues that are taking their toll on Southwestern Alaska.  All of these commentaries were also sent/submitted to all manner or government entities. Guess what… no replies in the positive or negative.  

 

 

So, what is it going to take to make the City Council ‘WOKE‽’

 

FRIDAY UPDATE:  Since Monday I have peened and transmitted a letter to the Mayor and the entire Council on the topic of ‘Emergency Ordinance 2020-22’ which I publicly posted here:

https://jonrcorbett.blogspot.com/2020/10/dillingham-emergency-ordinance-2020-22.html  I did receive one response so far from Mayor Ruby that indicated that she would share the letter with the Council and she said;

“Just one thing that I would note.  We have had more participation in recent meetings than I recall having in many years and I presume that it is because residents have been able to call in to participate.”

Nothing about the actual substance of the letter at all.  This type of communications is what I have begrudgingly learned to accept from the elected representatives of We the people on all levels.  Just last week I sent a copy of my post called ‘Taxation Without Representation’ (https://jonrcorbett.blogspot.com/2020/10/taxation-without-representation.html) to the Mayor and Council… with one reply:

 

“ Chris Napoli	Thu, Oct 15, 5:44 PM (8 days ago)
to me

Jon,

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.  

Best regards,

Chris”

 

Not one mention of the actual topic… no follow through… no phone calls… nothing whatsoever.  I can show this to be the pattern that is situation normal for them for years. Now not to whine about this too much… but it is disheartening to essentially be ignored by elected officials on a consistent and regular basis.  When elected, they swear an oath to represent ALL constituents, not just their buddies and paycheck signers. The ideal of representative government is that ALL the people have a voice and you get out of it what you put in.  That is NOT what’s happening in Dillingham or the rest of Western Alaska... heck not in the rest of the republic either.  So, I ask again…

 

‘So, what is it going to take to make the City Council ‘WOKE‽’

Yay...It's Friday!

 For most people Friday marks, the end of one work week and the gateway day into the ‘weekend’.  People all over the world use Friday as an excuse to look towards being as nonproductive as possible for the next two days and then decry the calendar as they start up their drudgery again on Monday. This is not the case for myself at all.  I actually would rather not have to deal with the mentality that Friday is some sort of day to celebrated on a weekly basis. 

 

“The name Friday comes from the Old English Frīġedæġ, meaning the "day of Frige", a result of an old convention associating the Germanic goddess Frigg with the Roman goddess Venus, with whom the day is associated in many different cultures. The same holds for Frīatag in Old High German, Freitag in Modern German, and vrijdag in Dutch.

The expected cognate name in Old Norse would be friggjar-dagr. The name of Friday in Old Norse is frjá-dagr instead, indicating a loan of the week-day names from Low German,^[3] however the modern Faroese name is fríggjadagur. The modern Scandinavian form is fredag in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish, meaning Freyja's day. The distinction between Freyja and Frigg in some Germanic mythologies is contested.”  

Wikipedia -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday

 

Friday is the day that I usually prepare a meal for my wife and her parents to have while they sit around having a few adult beverages and ruminate over the victory and/or foibles of the week.  Sometimes I take the ole’ lazy ‘take n’ bake’ route by grabbing something from the freezer section at the Bush Alaska version of a big-box store… and sometimes I actually start from scratch with one of my always wonderful meals. I think today it’s going to be a combination of the two… 

 

Moving on from that… I want to briefly touch on something that I haven’t really breached as a topic lately.  The national election and the plethora of circus rings surrounding it.  The most prominent circus ring of course is the fact that We the people are being forced to choose between an egomaniac and a crook. Sure, there is a third candidate on most ballots, but let’s be realistic… despite the fact that she’s the absolute best choice for the job, she’ll never be elected.  I dare say that if any of the Top 10 most admired people in history were to be resurrected and run for POTUS… the American people would still vote for one or the other or maybe even both mainstream corporate candidates.  What a sad commentary on how far We the people have allowed ourselves to be led away from the basic ideals of America.

 

On another note… I did receive one reply back from the Dillingham City Council in regards to my letter about ‘Emergency Ordinance 2020-22 shown in the screencap below: