All this Over 3 Freakin Minutes???!!!

7 years of the wind fiasco in Cape Vincent. Approximately 6 months of zoning committee work, much more if you figure this law was in the works probably soon after the election or earlier.  The most important issue to face Cape Vincent in it's history.  BP breathing down our neck along with a NY law ready to strip our rights away. The entire region under industrial wind threat, and a zoning law that is by far the most critical zoning this town may ever decide on...and at the official public hearing people get THREE ARBITRARY MINUTES to comment, and the members on the town board can't even agree on that as they start throwing out more arbitrary minute numbers!!! Like doubling the time to 6 minutes somehow has a magic effect.

Then rather than just recognize the obvious and let Mr. Lamora speak till he was finished and anybody else for that matter, which occurred anyhow by a negotiated decision, despite the fact the board couldn't even agree among themselves, they call the police who could be dealing with drunk drivers, or domestic abuse  or any other number of critical calls, the board calls the police as if something is highly illegal.  They call the police on something arbitrary they can't agree on and could have reasonably agreed to and negotiated BEFORE they called the police.

Wiley at JLL is promoting the idea that Lamora wasted the  citizen's time.  Ahhh...I would say that the board's knee jerk over reaction and inflexibility was the prime issue in wasted time.  As a friend of mine once said, "They were pole vaulting over mouse turds"  They gave themselves a black eye as a result.  In fact I spoke to councilman Bragdon and asked him what was the point of this and calling the police and what do they have to lose to let everyone speak at length.  He seemed to agree and in fact said " we are going to look like a bunch of morons!!!"  I give Bragdon high marks for clarity on this incident.  Let's see...wasn't open and transparent govt the mantra of this board before they were elected.  How exactly does arresting people for exercising their 1st amendment rights fit into that campaign promise.

Of course none of this should have been a surprise to anyone.  This same inflexibility is exactly what has been demonstrated by the town board and their zoning committee in their tunnel visioned approach toward setback zoning as an appeasement to Article X as the ONLY approach.

I guess the reason you allow only three minutes is because you see your law as so perfect formulated by the "experts" they could not envision that anyone might show up and not slap them endlessly on the back.  I could see why that would only require three minutes!

And of course Wiley at JLL takes his cue and chimes right in on his blog defending the town board over them running around like chickens with their heads cut off and calling the police before they could even decide themselves what to do.  By the way I noticed  that as a good American and Republican Wiley voted against Lamora be able to speak longer when the audience was polled.
And what kind of BS is that anyhow...2 polls.  Just make a damn decision.

A person highly educated and involved on the wind issue, a man who has committed several years to the community on this issue and volunteered numerous months and hours with no pay of his free time with detailed input to help formulate a Comp Plan, a man that was almost arrested opposing Edsall when he ran amuck...and our towns board's reaction when he asks for a little and contiuous extra time so his points are coherent andto impart some very important rational and measured thoughts from his long detailed experience is to have him arrested as a thank you???????  What the hell is wrong with this picture?????

All this over  inflexible adherence to three freakin minutes!!!!!!  Three minutes in the context of the issue isn't a rule...it's an absurd joke!

And people wonder why I might question the judgement of these guys when they were running for office.  Makes me wonder just how clear their judgment has been on their approach to our zoning law!!!