This is the council meeting that Councilman Rodriguez made his prepared statement in regard to Councilwoman LaCorte not approving of his 76th absence in the last four years. Here is what he said, as best I was able to transcibe it from the staticky/noisy audio;

“Its come to my attention that the Nov. 17th meeting one of my colleagues took an issue with the fact that I’m required to travel for work. In fact I read in the Whitehall News that, I quote, ‘have not fulfilled these obligations since being re-appointed to council in 2011.’ I’d like to remind my colleague that the voters re-elected me in 2013 with full knowledge of my work commitments. I also find it increasingly…increasingly…incredibly interesting that this was not an issue for the past two years. It was not an issue last year or even this summer. It was not an issue for my colleague until I supported her opponent and she lost the election for mayor last month. This sounds like sour grapes. (LaCorte laughs) (to LaCorte) I have the floor.”

“I want you all to know that I do take my public service very seriously. I’m available to my constituents. I speak with neighbors and residents who (inaudible) issues that remain important and on items of note on the agenda. I bring their issues and opinions on matters to committee and (inaudible). Lastly, I do want to thank the people in my ward for their continued faith in me. I want to thank the rest of my colleagues for their support and I look forward to continue to work with them after January 1st.”

Here it is again then, with my rebuttal in red…

“Its come to my attention that the Nov. 17th meeting one of my colleagues took an issue with the fact that I’m required to travel for work. (She doesn’t take issue with your requirement to travel for work, she takes issue with that fact taking you an inordinate amount of time away from your duties as the citizens elected representative. That is a huge and distinct difference.) In fact I read in the Whitehall News that, I quote, ‘have not fulfilled these obligations since being re-appointed to council in 2011.’ (The entirety of what she said was this; “(Rodriguez) has missed too many meetings and council has a lot to do,” LaCorte said, adding he had not fulfilled his obligation since he was appointed to council in 2011, nor decreased his business-related travel requirements.) I’d like to remind my colleague that the voters (216 of them) re-elected me in 2013 with full knowledge of my work commitments. (As a Ward 1 citizen I saw no information to give me any, let alone ‘full’ knowledge, related to his ‘work commitments’.) I also find it increasingly…increasingly…incredibly interesting that this was not an issue for the past two years. It was not an issue last year or even this summer. (The wrongness of it existed whether someone took issue with it or not. The fact that no one spoke up, in particular Mr. Rodriguez, says alot about their priorities.) It was not an issue for my colleague until I supported her opponent and she lost the election for mayor last month. (Mr. Rodriguez has a valid point here. If he was absent 75 times, why the ‘no’ vote to excuse his absence on the 76th? I know for myself that I had noticed his absences over the last couple years but said nothing publicly. I felt, for one, that it was his and/or his colleagues on council to remedy this situation. I even looked up the rules on absenteeism in the charter and expressed my feelings privately. This was done out of respect. Secondly, everyone knew Mr. Rodriguez had a job which required travel. If he is not in council meetings, its not out of spite or is on purpose but rather due to the demands his job puts upon his time which were chiefly responsible for his time lost on council. That certainly deserves a reasonable modicum of patience and consideration, that which I, Leslie LaCorte and others gave him for those previous years. However, that patience and understanding doesn’t ultimately take away from the fact that he is being paid to perform a duty and a service for citizens which he is not, due to his work demands, able to sufficiently serve those obligations, not to mention taking money for a job he’s not able to do as properly as if he were here as it requires him to be. It has been and is a problem and a wrong on Councilman Rodriguez’ part to ignore this, that which can no longer be ignored. If he cannot properly serve the residents of Ward 1 with a reasonable expectation of attendance and stop collecting a paycheck from taxpayer dollars for massive absences, then he needs to do the right and honorable thing and simply step down. That would be the right thing to do by the citizens of Ward 1 which, by the record, he has only been representing two/thirds of the time.) This sounds like sour grapes. (That is for Ms. LaCorte to answer)  (LaCorte laughs) (to LaCorte) I have the floor.”(One can react to things being said, that is not wresting control of someone elses time.)

“I want you all to know that I do take my public service very seriously. I’m available to my constituents. (I know of residents of Ward 1 who would disagree) I speak with neighbors and residents who (inaudible) issues that remain important and on items of note on the agenda. (If he can’t attend 76 meetings in four years, where does he have the time to go and talk with the ‘neighbors and residents’?) I bring their issues and opinions on matters to committee and (inaudible). Lastly, I do want to thank the people in my ward for their continued faith in me. (It is easy to say that the people in your Ward have faith in you but proof is in the pudding. Citizens rarely come out to meetings, let alone voice their opinions. As of this writing, I would like to know how many registered voters there are in Ward 1 compared with the 216 people who voted him in running unopposed. (Sometimes I think he’s in there because ‘he’ll do the job’ that no one else wants to do. He’s ‘good enough’ because he’s willing to do it.) They all talk about ‘our citizens’ and such but when the council meetings and civic functions are too often so barren and I hear the sighs and the disappointment in so many of the disconnected, apathetic and unengaged Whitehall populace from the elected leaders*, I wonder just exactly how deep this faith and attention and interest of ‘their citizens’ goes. It is fine and good to say such things but the manifestation of that is rarely seen.) and I want to thank the rest of my colleagues for their support and I look forward to continue to work with them after January 1st.” (Here it appears he’s signalling that he has no intention of dropping out and will continue to take taxpayer money for not doing his job.)

*At the end of the meeting Council President Jim Graham says, “I want to thank everyone for coming out this evening. Appreciate you being here. We always enjoy having as many people in here as we can get. Like to see the place be totally full, standing room only would be really nice.” I have heard this so often I can’t count. They all know this but rarely say anything past a sighing disappointment, but its true. The entire reason this sort of governing exists in City Hall is due to the citizens lacks interest and engagement, that which they don’t really or fully adddress, afraid they’ll alienate voters who may send them packing.