How disrespectful Mayor Randy Hall was at the City Council meeting Monday, May 4. On the agenda was to be a discussion regarding a possible contract for services with the Blaine County Sheriff's Office. It turned out that Mayor Hall released a press item stating the City Council will vote on a four-year contract, which had not yet been seen or discussed in public forum.
It was great to see such a well-attended meeting. The mayor jumped the gun, since there is no contract at this time. During the discussion on having the City Council approve looking into a contract for services with Blaine County, Mayor Hall criticized a citizen of Ketchum for stating his opinion. An open discussion is what we as citizens of Ketchum want and do not need a mayor who bullies the citizens who disagree with him. It is no wonder that when an important discussion such as our police service being contracted out to the Blaine County Sheriff's Department comes up, most Ketchum citizens (who remained anonymous) sent questions by e-mail instead of showing up at the meeting.
No one wants to be bullied. With the mayor's vitriol on other matters that night (i.e. old police cases and Sun Vallley's fire service), could it be time for a city manager? (The city manager discussion will be on the agenda May 18.) In these difficult economic times, what out city needs is calm, level-headed and decisive leadership.
Phyllis Shafran
Ketchum
