Eagle Mayor Phil Bandy appeared to be infringing on our First Amendment rights recently, when he lost his temper and made inappropriate comments during the December 30th and January 26th Eagle City Council meetings. The mayor repeatedly interrupted public testimony and left many questioning the appropriateness of Eagle’s city leader. Add to this the Mayor’s personal attacks on a city council member during the budget discussions in 2008 and it is clear that an alarming pattern is emerging.
In response to testimony by Eagle resident Patricia Minkiewicz in December, Mayor Bandy stated “Ma’m you are not a citizen of the City of Eagle and I get very tired of you coming in here and scolding us for doing things when you don’t have the ability to vote, you are not a citizen, you live in the area of impact, that is for granted, but Pat it gets a little tiresome to get scolded by someone who does not have the position or standing to do so.”
The First Amendment to the Constitution gives all of us the freedom of speech and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This right of petition allows all of us the ability to address our elected politicians on issues of misconduct, corruption, waste, incompetence, and generally the ability to vent our frustrations.
“A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776
Is this tyrannical conduct by Eagle’s Mayor barreling out of control? If residents do not have the position or standing to admonish the mayor, then does the mayor believe that he is accountable to no one?
The only way to solve the problems our community is facing is by speaking openly about them, encouraging discourse and providing solutions. Everyone has standing to address their concerns and should be encouraged to do so without having to face the wrath of a mayor who appears to have a problem with criticism. Instead of resorting to ad hominem attacks and childish comments, Eagle’s Mayor needs to abandon the tyranny, step up and become a leader. Perhaps the first step is an apology to the residents of Eagle’s area of impact.
The audio of the outbursts are:
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In response to my editorial on opposing a bond election and bailout for the Eagle city hall building, Mayor Bandy sent an e-mail to me (full text below) claiming he had nothing to do with the questionably legal lease for city hall. In the e-mail he states that he was on the planning and zoning commission when the city hall building was built and the initial lease was entered, so he had nothing to do with the lease. What he didn’t mention is that he was on the city council when the lease was amended in September of 2006.
Alarming is his view that to do nothing and allow something to happen affords him the right to deny responsibility. In four years as City Councilman and Mayor he has not made any noticeable effort to remedy this mess, until recently when it has become clear to everyone that there is overwhelming opposition to Eagle’s transgressions. He ignored Councilman Shoushtarian’s requests to get an appraisal on the building and commence working on a solution to this problem that is “bleeding Eagle dry” as stated by Councilman Semanko. He has sat day after day in Eagle’s multi-million dollar, gold lettered, palatial city hall and has approved the inflated rent checks to the landlord each year.
Most interesting is Mayor Bandy’s reaction to my public testimony Tuesday, when I mentioned that he was distancing himself from the decision. This appears to be a hot button with him, as he broke from protocol, interrupted public testimony and was disrespectful to those who were making observations and providing suggestions. Luckily the boy scouts who were observing the meeting had left before this outburst. It truly was behavior unbecoming to a city leader.
Along those same lines, on Tuesday we heard Councilman Huffaker request that the public stop writing editorials when they have a concern about city affairs, along with a suggestion to the press to stop publishing the editorials. According to Councilman Huffaker, public discourse is not helpful. If you are reading this, it appears as if the First Amendment has prevailed.
We also heard Councilman Semanko claiming that a legitimate question on whether the mayor has the right to break a tie vote on an appointment was merely people playing politics. This tactic is a logical fallacy called attacking the motive; where people choose to attack the motive of the person making the statement, instead of addressing the issue at hand. Semanko claimed he did not run for office to be in politics; a surprising statement from the chairman of the Idaho Republican Party. He clearly gave the impression that anyone questioning whether the city administration is acting legally is not acting in the best interest of the city. These are interesting comments from someone who ran on a platform of transparency.
In spite of the attempts by some to thwart public testimony and subvert the first amendment the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting was a victory for all. As a result of overwhelming opposition, the city conceded that mistakes had been made and remedied the situation. The task force is moving ahead, now with ample resources to do the job.
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Mayor Bandy’s e-mail:
January 26, 2009
Ms. McDavid – as a follow up to your most recent article in the Valley times, provided below a brief timeline regarding my tenure with the City of Eagle vis-à-vis Eagle City Hall:
City Hall Timeline:
March through May 2000 – City Facilities Assessment Commission created and members appointed
January 2002 – I was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. I served as Planning and Zoning Commissioner through December 2005
February 2005 – Council approved Request for Proposal (RFP) for Building Construction
May 2005 – Interviews conducted with developers
May 2005 – City entered into the first basic lease agreement with Hawkins-Smith
January 2006 – I was sworn into office as City Councilman
January 2008 – I was sworn into office as Mayor
As such, contrary to your assertion that,
“Several years ago, using questionable legal reasoning to justify subverting the will of the people who three times voted “no” on a bond to purchase a new City Hall building, Phil Bandy, then City Council member, approved entering a one-year lease for a building which was constructed on land owned by the city; said lease to be renewable for fifty years in a row.”
“All options should be on the table to fix a problem created by Mayor Bandy and previous city leaders.”
I was not involved in the facilities assessment commission, as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner I was not involved in the development of the building construction RFP, I did not participate in interviews with potential developers, I did not participate in the decision to retain Hawkins-Smith, and, I had no part in the leasing decision.
Although I agree all options should be on the table and the issue needs to be addressed as soon as practicable, the problem at hand is not one of my creation.
Regards,
Phil
Phil Bandy, Mayor
City of Eagle, Idaho
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Sounds like everyone is jumping off the “city hall” ship. Mayor Bandy is the last of the “old-guard” who was responsible for steering this ship into deep water. From his statements it appears he too has jumped off. So, who is left at the wheel?
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I do not support a bailout of city hall and borrowing money to fix a problem that Eagle city leaders created.
Mayor Bandy on Tuesday cast a questionably legal deciding vote and appointed former Councilwoman Jeanne Jackson-Heim and 11 others to review the options for decreasing the cost of Eagle City Hall, over the opposition of Councilmen Al Shoushtarian and John Grassar. Bandy’s appointment of Jackson-Heim as chair of the committee was voted down, with the councilmen’s recommendation that the committee should choose its own chair. The city is currently saddled with a lease that is “bleeding the city to death” according to councilman Norm Semanko.
Several years ago, using questionable legal reasoning to justify subverting the will of the people who three times voted “no” on a bond to purchase a new City Hall building, Phil Bandy, then a city council member, approved entering a one year lease for a building which was constructed on land owned by the city; said lease to be renewable for fifty years in a row. The lease agreement allows the city to purchase the building for a price in excess of two million dollars. Now that the bottom has dropped out of the real estate market and there is an oversupply of office space in Eagle, the one year lease should be a huge negotiating tool for the city. Accordingly, last year, Mayor Bandy sent Jeanne Jackson-Heim, to negotiate a better deal. She failed, coming back with only a small rate reduction which would then be tacked on to a later year. A great deal for the building owner; an awful one with no real savings for the citizens of Eagle.
As the city struggles with cost overruns, it now must find additional ways to balance the budget. Bandy, Huffaker and Jackson-Heim voted last year to increase taxes in order to accomplish this goal, over the protest of Councilmen Shoushtarian and Semanko, who recommended further cuts on the expense side of the budget. One of these suggestions was to lower the cost of city hall. The city has several options to evaluate, some of which could save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.
1)Do nothing and renew the existing one year lease at the current overpriced rate.
2)Enter into serious negotiations with the current landlord and achieve a realistic lease rate comparable to other vacant space around the city and save up the funds to eventually purchase a city hall building.
3)Find a new building to lease, since Eagle has one of the highest vacancy rates in the valley, and negotiate a low rate for a short time period until the city can save up the funds to purchase a city hall building.
4)Get an appraisal for the real price of what the building is worth. Negotiate with the building owner to purchase the building at that realistic price, save the money and then buy it.
5)The fifth option and the one that some of our city officials appear to be moving toward is to purchase the current building without an appraisal, at an inflated contract price, and pass that burden on to the Eagle citizens in the form of a bond as soon as possible.
Last fall’s October 27th city council meeting provides some insight as to the direction Mayor Bandy, Council President Huffaker and Jeanne Jackson-Heim want the city to take. During the meeting the council had listened to a presentation from Zion’s bank about various types of bond financing. The bond presentation included handouts on how to “sell” the bond to the public, as if the decision to purchase the building and hold a bond election had already been made. There was also discussion by Jackson-Heim around the fact that the city could still “sneak” in a bond election during an off-time in the Spring since the new election laws do not come into effect until 2011. She also requested that the Mayor add to an upcoming agenda a discussion around appointing her to oversee the city hall process; foreshadowing for Bandy’s attempt on Tuesday to appoint her as chairman of the city hall task force. Councilman Shoushtarian then requested that a discussion about whether to seek an appraisal of the City Hall building be added to the agenda stating that it would be prudent to know the fair market price of the building that the city would like to purchase. None of the council appeared receptive to seeking an appraisal. In fact Council President Huffaker stated that he already knows what the purchase price will be since it is set in the contract at over $2 million. This is an alarming sign that he is receptive to purchasing real estate at an inflated price and passing that cost on to the public.
Jumping ahead to January’s city council meeting: a task force should be neutral and earnest in its quest to collect facts, evaluate alternatives and present the options to the city council. A concern voiced by many is that the Mayor fills his committees with people who are more likely to promote his agenda. This concern, was brought up in Tuesday’s city council meeting by newly elected councilman John Grasser who appeared doubtful that a fair and balanced presentation will occur. He suggested that more new blood; people with new ideas, serve on the committee, instead of an alarming number of people from the same group from which Mayor Bandy continually chooses to surround himself; the same group of people who have shaped Eagle, who were involved in city affairs at the time the city hall lease was formed and have already expressed their support of holding a bond election and purchasing the existing city hall building. Grasser stressed that listening to more neutral people from the community for which he is elected to serve would be in order on such an important issue.
Councilman Shoustarian requested that the newly formed task force resolution that the city attorney and mayor made at the last minute, (which notably has never done before) be made available for public comment before it was voted on. Interestingly, Council President Mike Huffaker insisted he did not want to hear public comments on this last minute resolution, which is another complete change in philosophy for him. Huffaker campaigned on an open and transparent process in our city government. In the past he has claimed that he welcomed public comment. This lack of transparency in a process that spends millions of public dollars leads to a much bigger problem of persistent and continued lack of trust in our elected officials.
Some of Eagle’s city leaders appear to be proceeding down the path of a major purchase without any desire to know the fair market value of the item being purchased. The city also appears to be acting like the one-year lease on City Hall is something more than a one year lease; more of a long term commitment with a 50 year term and a set purchase price. Are Eagle city leaders about to purchase the proverbial $10,000 toilet seat? The economics of Eagle have changed. Property values in Eagle have decreased however it appears some of our city leaders believe the city hall property is somehow immune from this.
Our city council needs to be looking out for the best interests of the people of Eagle; not the people involved in a questionably constitutional lease and those benefiting from it. Purchasing a building at an inflated value and sneaking in another bond election before new election laws come into effect is disgraceful. We should demand far more from our elected city government. All options should be on the table to fix a problem created by Mayor Bandy and previous city leaders. Is it the intention of Bandy, Huffaker and Jackson-Heim to subvert the will of the people again for a fourth time? Is Semanko going to join in with them? Eagle city leaders should not force the citizens of Eagle to bail out city hall and borrow money to fix a problem that the city created.
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