Filed under: Doug Williams, Silt, Silt Home Rule charter, bobby hays, candidate, conflict of interest, dave moore, democracy, disenfranchisement, election, harassment, janet aluise, mayor moore, public trust, recall, rick aluise, river park, roundabout, rule of law, satire, tibbetts, town board, town government, trustee, violations
- “Silt in a Roundabout Way” by local artist Blaine Peters
A citizen complained to the SiltBOTs at Monday’s meeting (8/24) about the climber’s bare ass and the nude fisherman on the new roundabout statue. Bobby Hayes suggested painting the statue. See what I mean? This is why we can’t have nice things in Silt. I’m sure if the figures were women nobody would have a problem with their nakedness. Everyone I know thinks the statue is stunning and beautiful. Blaine Peters definitely exposed the essence of life here – in more ways than one.
Read about the new statue at the Silt website.
Interview with artist Blaine Peters
At that same meeting, and in violation of Silt Home Rule Charter, Section 2-6 (c), the SiltBOTs appointed former trustee Doug Williams to fill the seat vacated by Tod in April.
Section 2-6. Vacancies.
(c) Procedure to Fill Vacancy for Trustee Other Than the Mayor. Whenever a vacancy occurs more than ninety (90) days prior to the next regular Town election, the Board of Trustees shall solicit the general public for applications to fill the vacancy. Within sixty (60) days following the occurrence of a vacancy, the Board of Trustees shall either appoint a replacement or call a special election to replace such person. If the Board of Trustees fails to appoint a replacement within sixty (60) days following the occurrence of a vacancy, then the Board of Trustees may schedule a special election to be held within one hundred eighty (180) days after such failure, unless a general election is already scheduled within that time period. If a vacancy occurs within one hundred eighty (180) days of the next general election, then the Board of Trustees may leave the office vacant and provide for a replacement to be elected at such general election.
In other words, because the SiltBOTs failed to appoint a replacement for Tod within 60 days, according to the HRC they are supposed to hold a special election. Four candidates applied for the position: Leonard Langston, Ray Lloyd, Kevin Scanlon, and former trustee Doug Williams. Therefore, by law it should have been up to the voters to decide who should fill the trustee vacancy. Not the SiltBOTs. But that’s the way Silt happens these days. They toss out the rule book and make it up as they go along. What-ever. As a result, former trustee Doug Williams is now current trustee Doug Williams. Screw the voters. We get disenfranchised again. There oughta be a law. Oh, that’s right. There is.
Former Silt trustee Williams appointed to fill vacated seat
In the article I took exception to The Mayor’s description of Williams.
[Mayor] Moore also said that it was Williams’ character that helped in the decision, saying that Williams is a solid, thorough and fair.
“He has always treated each situation and person fairly,” Moore said. “His principles are indisputable and impeccable.”
Well that’s not the Doug Williams I know. Let me share some interesting fun facts about Doug-the-trustee.
* In 2005, Doug-the-trustee supported a proposal by the Lion’s Club to develop River Park into a picnic area, make the trails handicapped accessible, and fence off only a portion of the park as a dog run. The proposal was dropped in the face of widespread opposition. In 2007, Doug-the-trustee voted against the ordinance which designated River Park as an off-leash dog park. He was the only trustee who voted against it – at both readings.
* Prior to his resignation in 2007, Doug-the-trustee conspired with a Silt police officer to harass Tod and me and our dogs. He encouraged the Officer to come to our house when he knew we were not home, to get Venus to bark. She was wearing a bark collar so he tortured her, too. Then the Officer issued a barking dog warning citation. We arrived home to 2 frantic dogs, Venus was hoarse from the bark collar, and our neighbor cussed us out on our answering machine. Plus the warning citation.
* During his previous term Doug-the-trustee was well-known by staff as a hands-on public official. He regularly called employees at the Town Hall to ask about the length of Community Development Director Janet Aluise’s lunch breaks. Against regulations he routinely took complaints from employees against other employees. He exceeded the boundaries of his authority and had employees’ computers examined without permission.
* Citizen Doug Williams is a lumber salesman for Valley Lumber in Rifle. Doug-the-trustee was/is a public official. During his previous term the two often became entangled. Doug-the-trustee paid unusually close attention to the goings-on in the Community Development Department, which was regarded by many as actual interference, and by others as unethical and illegal.
* Doug-the-lumber-salesman had a customer who wanted to build an apartment complex on a piece of commercial property in the heart of downtown. However such a project would be contrary to zoning regulations. Doug-the-trustee stepped in and attempted to coerce the staff into approving the project. Town Administrator Rick Aluise had to present a financial analysis to the P & Z Commission and the SiltBOTs to demonstrate the loss in revenue for the Town if the project had been approved.
* Doug-the-trustee threatened the Building Inspector’s job because another inspector requested documentation about the suitability of replacing one building product with another. The product in question had been sold to the project by Doug-the-lumber-salesman. Then he told the Building Inspector he wanted Janet Aluise gone from her position as Community Development Director. It’s uncertain which Doug that was at the time. By then it had become impossible to distinguish between the two personalities.
Would you trust your town government to this man?
* The Silt Recall Committee charged that harassment of Town employees by Doug-the-trustee and Dave-the-mayor resulted in the resignations of Town Administrator Rick Aluise and Community Development Director Janet Aluise.
It will be interesting to watch how the current staff responds to Doug-the-trustee’s heavy-handed approach to town government.
Same Silt — different day.
Feel free to submit your fun facts about notorious Doug-the-trustee.
If you’re so inclined call the Town Hall and The Mayor and tell them to abide by the Silt Home Rule Charter and hold a special election to fill the trustee vacancy. While you’re at it, tell them how much you love the new statue – bare ass and all. It would be a shame to let one grumpy old man spoil our nice things.
Filed under: 21002532, animals, bedlam farm, book review, communication, dog behavior, dog story, dogs, jon katz, nonfiction, soul, spiritual growth
Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm
By Jon Katz
Villard Books
August 2009
208 pages
On Bedlam Farm, Jon Katz rules his kingdom of 3 dogs, 2 steers, a cow, 4 donkeys, 3 goats, a rooster and some hens, 2 barn cats, and a flock of 28 sheep. Reading Soul of a Dog is like taking a stroll with him through the farmyard to meet and greet some of the special ones – past and present – which have touched his heart and changed his life.
Rose is the quick and smart border collie. Through hard work and tireless energy, she has maintained order amid the chaos of so many critters. Elvis the Snickers-eating steer saved himself from the slaughterhouse. Lenore the black lab pursued a unique friendship. Meet the sweet yet stubborn donkeys, Mother the affectionate natural born killer cat, a Greek chorus of goats, and Henrietta the exceptional hen. Katz also includes the stories of two extraordinary dogs Fly and Magnus, who left their imprints as brief visitors to the farm. Even the spirit of Orson, a troubled yet much-loved border collie, materializes.
Throughout this pleasant outing Katz draws on the beliefs of great philosophers, poets, authors, and an incorrigible preacher to illuminate a variety of spiritual perspectives. As though peering through a camera lens into the animal world Katz examines the meaning of life with a focus upon memorable relationships between animals and humans.
Anyone who has ever loved a dog, or any critter, will devour Soul of a Dog in one sitting and contemplate its meaning forever. Those who have never bonded with an animal will discover what is missing from their lives. Katz explores the question of whether animals have souls with the humor and drama of a masterful storyteller. Readers will leave Bedlam Farm with a keen awareness of the key to unlock their own souls.
Copyright (c) 2009 by Peggy Tibbetts
Jon Katz’s website: Bedlam Farm
Watch A Dog Year on HBO September 3
Sometimes The Paper runs the goofiest stories. Like last month on July 20, the front page story was about a baby born in his dad’s pickup on the way to the hospital – on July 12.
It’s a heckuva heartwarming little story. But it was a) old news and b) not exactly front page news.
Last week a friend and I were laughing about the newsworthiness – or not – of some of the articles lately and he pointed out another wacky story in the same issue.
I had seen a few other articles on the internets featuring Apollo 11 engineers and by comparison this local guy, Tom Collins’ story seemed – well – kinda made up. My friend and I wondered whether the article writer and also editor of The Paper, Dale Shrull had done any fact checking. Just for the fun of it, I did a little fact checking on my own and put the results in a letter to the editor. To my surprise my letter was actually published August 12.
Poor fact checking in Apollo 11 story
As a professional writer and editor for more than 30 years, I must take issue with Dale Shrull’s fact checking in his recent article, “Rifle man shared in success of Apollo 11 mission.”
Of course when I wrote my letter and sent it I thought I was done with it. A playful diversion. But lo and behold, to my delight I garnered a response from Mr.Editor himself which is posted online in its entirety at the end of my letter. I have dissected it here for my own amusement.
Editor’s Note: When doing feature stories there’s always the chance that someone might want to pull a fast one. It’s happened before to reporters at this newspaper. When we do these types of stories, we are more trusting than with hard news stories. We hope that the source is credible and doesn’t have some other motive and desire to take advantage of our trust.
Well, then, perhaps therein lies the problem. Hoping for a credible source versus independently verifying that the source is credible are two distinctly different styles of journalism. The former would be considered sloppy journalism and the latter would be considered a more reliable form of journalism.
Since Mr. Editor admitted they are more trusting with their feature articles than their hard news stories that would make The Paper more susceptible to someone pulling a fast one, which explains why it has happened before – and will likely happen again.
According to Journa Wiki (yes Virginia, there IS a Journa Wiki): “Writing features can be more demanding than writing straight news stories, because while a journalist must apply the same amount of effort to accurately gather and report the facts of the story, the reporter must also find a creative and interesting way to write the article, especially the lead, or the first one or two paragraphs of the story.” [emphasis added by me]
His was a lengthy rebuttal. I inspired almost 150 words out of him. It was like his own little letter to the editor. A badge of honor for me. Mr. Editor went on to say:
When I interviewed Mr. Collins and saw his certificates and other documentation, I didn’t have any reason to doubt him.
While that was oh-so-nice of Mr. Editor, here he admitted he didn’t independently verify those certificates and documentation, nor did he include them in his story – which was kinda my point.
I’m not clear on what your motivation is to question Mr. Collins’ credibility, but I wonder if it’s of the personal nature.
I don’t know Tom Collins. Never met Tom Collins. Didn’t even know Tom Collins existed until I read the story in The Paper. So, no, it’s nothing personal.
So what is my motivation?
Because of my blog, I am what is referred to as a citizen journalist. Meaning I report the news but I don’t get paid for it. We bloggers are much-maligned and viewed with eye-rolling skepticism. In the past I have been taken to task by more than one reporter from The Paper (though not Mr. Shrull personally) about my own journalistic standards on my blog.
So my motivation was, I just couldn’t help myself. When I read the article with all that glaring implausibility screaming at me I couldn’t resist taking a jab at the writer who happens to be the editor. All in good fun. Some people just don’t get my humor.
It’s pretty weird that he tried to turn it around and make my letter about me questioning Collins’ credibility – therefore personal? – when I clearly stated at the outset that I was criticizing his – he – Mr. Shrull – The Editor’s fact checking, then pointed out obvious weaknesses in the story – which I felt had not been properly fact checked. Methinks Mr. Shrull was a tad defensive.
What can I say? <sigh> This is a tough business …
Finally the trusting Mr. Editor trustfully thanked his trusted sources:
I would also like to extend my gratitude to all the people who have trusted me to tell their stories. I am always humbled by their trust and their belief that I will not violate that trust.
In other words, no matter how outlandish your story is, you can trust that the folks down at The Paper will publish it. And they will not violate your trust by exposing you as a liar. Readers, on the other hand, don’t trust what you read in The Paper.
Thomas Jefferson’s prescient words were never truer than they are today:
“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”
I have immersed myself in Jon Katz’s dog stories. I started with A Dog Year, which is the true story of a crazy Border Collie that Katz adopted and how he changed his life. I could totally relate.
The Dogs of Bedlam Farm is the intriguing story of Katz’s move to a remote farmhouse with 3 Border Collies, 2 donkeys and 15 sheep. Their first winter is one of the coldest on record. The story of how he struggles and perseveres as the leader of his own animal kingdom is riveting.
In A Good Dog: The Story of Orson (which is the same dog in A Dog Year) Katz delves into Orson’s psyche and his own on a much deeper level, which is fascinating to me because in my own struggles with Venus I have become like a dog psychiatrist – or at least analyst.
Dog Days explores further adventures at Bedlam Farm. And Izzie & Lenore is about 2 new dogs that add another whole new dimension to Katz’s life.
Katz’s dog stories are comforting to me. His dogs dominate his life. My dogs dominate my life. Reading about his experiences confirms my belief that what I’m learning and what I’m doing is life changing. My dogs are better for it and I am better for it.
Katz’s next book, Soul of a Dog will be released this month. The A Dog Year the movie premieres on HBO on September 3.
Can’t wait.
If you love good dog stories, read Jon Katz’s books.
Jon Katz’s website: Bedlam Farm
Read the Crazy Bitch series. Or click on the handy links provided on the left.
