At last week’s City Council meeting, four new Council members–Sarah Blossom, Dave Ward, Steven Bonkowski and Anne Blair–were sworn in, and four others–Hilary Franz, Barry Peters, Bill Knobloch and Kim Brackett–were bid warm good-byes. Sadly, the occasion was marred by some good old-fashioned political hackery. A memo (posted below) surfaced at the meeting, purporting to give advice to an unnamed voting bloc of four on the incoming Council, on such statesmanlike topics as the lying habits of City employees, how to force a management shake-up at City Hall, and how to sandbag Council opposition.
According to information obtained by Inside Bainbridge, outgoing Council member Bill Knobloch was behind the memo. Inside Bainbridge quotes City Manager Brenda Bauer as saying Knobloch used the copier at City Hall and “immediately after he left, [a] staff person who walked past him into the room to use the copier found the document in the originals tray. They shared it with another staff person or two who came into the copier room, and then it was given to me.”
When contacted by Inside Bainbridge, Knobloch denied responsibility, saying, “I am not the author of that document.” Knobloch added that “we should not be conjecturing about something that we had no way of knowing,” and repeated that the accusation was “totally false.” Inside Bainbridge reported that he “questioned the reasoning behind sharing the document at the Council meeting: ‘What good is that especially since it was a festive evening?’” I’m willing to entertain the idea that he didn’t write it, or wasn’t the only author, but at the very least it seems clear he was involved with crafting and conveying the message.
As to the voting bloc to whom the memo is addressed, an educated guess would be the three new members whom Knobloch publicly endorsed: Dave Ward, Sarah Blossom and Steven Bonkowski. The identity of the fourth might be gleaned from the public reaction of Debbi Lester, who has been aligned with Knobloch on several hot button issues in the past few months, such as divestiture of the City’s water utility and the swamp surrounding the in-sourcing of the Civil Service Commission’s Secretary/ Chief Examiner position. After I read the memo, I communicated with Councilors Hytopoulos, Scales, Franz and Peters, who were uniformly disgusted and outraged. In contrast, Lester made light of the episode when contacted by Inside Bainbridge, saying, “Everybody should go have some eggnog and chill out.”
Regardless of the authorship of this document, as a citizen I am shocked at the ideas it sets forth.
–I cannot imagine why anyone would put in writing ugly and over-generalized opinions that condemn the entire staff and management at City Hall, not to mention that mysterious group of people the writer calls the “behind-the-scenes Kitchen Cabinet.” The memo states: “When contemplating change, remember that people employed by the city have lied, and will continue to lie to keep their jobs. Also, people who have been running City Hall in a behind-the-scenes Kitchen Cabinet have lied, and will continue to lie, to keep their power and status.” How can any council work with any administration if people on either side believe from the outset that there will be rampant lying and protection of power and status?
–I cannot imagine why anyone would strongly imply corruption as to financial matters at City Hall: ”The public has been given a corrupted version of the city’s financial viability for years.” This is a very serious charge, made in writing without any evidence whatsoever.
–I cannot imagine why anyone would encourage the new council members in a potential plan to “shake up” City management with their “four out of seven votes lined up”—and then be so careless as to leave the document where city employees will find it. The author has ensured that the Council and City administration will begin their relationship with mutual distrust. If the next council takes his advice, how is Bainbridge going to find new management, given this history? Who in their right mind will come to work for COBI? Is the destruction of our city government the writer’s aim?
–I cannot imagine why anyone would advise council members to sandbag their fellow council members and strategically fail to negotiate in good faith. “Also, work to neutralize your opposition on city council. This can happen in two ways: 1) Opposition members may self-destrct by coming across as angry. 2) You include opposition members in a negotiation pattern right up to the point of making the motion and voting. The negotiation pattern is a manner of behavior, not a compromise of legislation points.” The writer went so far as to advise practicing these techniques.
Many of my neighbors and friends have wondered why politics at City Hall has become so poisonous. People are losing confidence in a political environment where both government and citizens are more interested in battling with each other than in working toward effective, efficient government. Attitudes and strategies like those contained in this document profoundly hurt our community. I would greatly appreciate some reassurance from members of this new council that the New Year will bring a renewed focus on substantive, productive work, conducted with real commitment to collaboration, relationship, and fair dealing.
Very truly yours,
Althea Paulson
