Grow or Die?

There is some truth in the phrase the city manager and others have used that a city must grow or it will stagnate or die. The manner of that growth can be reasonably debated among those who care, but most would agree that a sensible balance between spending and return on invested capital is necessary to achieve the kind of growth that sustains a community and provides for the kind of revenue necessary to support existing services. Those who oppose some of the examples of growth Sidney has undertaken have been labeled as anti-growth or uninformed. I, for one, do not see the opposing view that some kinds of activities should be suspended during the tough times as anti-growth, but rather a need to absorb what we have done and to retool our approach for the future.

IPhone to come to Verizon and Sprint?

News reports have surfaced regarding potential plans to make Apple, Inc.'s IPhone device available to CDMA carriers Verizon and Sprint. These reports provide clues into what might be the beginning of the end for AT&T's strangle hold on the trendy smart phone and give millions of people outside of the current availability map hope to be as geeky as their resident computer tech.

Long seen as an innovator in the personal electronics space, Apple has won praise and numerous design awards for its crafting and refinement of small devices such as music players, home theater devices, wireless access devices and desktop computers. The company's hub application, ITunes was a central focus in the development of the IPod music device by hosting music and later video and tv programming. Apple created an instant competitor to Napster and other peer shared sites that seemed to make consumers and copyright holders happy. This application continues to be the central hub for what has been termed the digital lifestyle and Apple used it as a central docking station for its new device.

Health care law to correct "Mal distribution of income"

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Since this item was published, DNC Chairman Howard Dean has also jumped onto the income redistribution platform.

 Senior Democrat Max Baucus, D-Mont, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee  yesterday said that one of the benefits the new health care law will bring is a correction to what he termed a mal distribution in American income.

On having compassion

I looked at the Sun-Telegraph this morning as I do every day. A letter to the Editor from Jan in Dalton expressed both the extended sentiment on Todd Hansel's crimes and wishes that he have the sound and memory of his actions for the rest of his life. So many people in the area have pets that are intentionally abandoned or discarded because the chew on things or get away and the owner's simply stop caring. A during a conversation with several staff and citizens after the meeting, Julie Young cited that 26 animals were put down last year. The majority of those put down were licensed animals, whose owners had ten days to reclaim them. Just because these animals were euthanized in a quiet manner doesn't excuse the neglect of the families who owned them. The lives of these animals could have been spared by caring enough to find a different home for them or by teaching the animal how to "play" in  acceptable ways.

White Bluffs Vet Clinic gets 5 year deal

White Bluffs Veterinary Clinic received a contract to provide impound and other animal services to the city of Sidney for a period of five years after bids were formally presented to the pubic and council members present.

Citing a conflict of interest, Mayor David Wiederspon turned the meeting over to Vice Mayor Dalan Hiatt, who presided over the final portion of the meeting. Two bids were received from White Bluffs, and Sidney Veterinary Hospital.

Comments from the public included a question Ibs Young, who inquired as to the amount of the contract and whether it was necessary to bid for that amount. city attorney Jordan Ball provided information answered her question that due to the fact the Mayor was a bidder in the process and for the protection of the public interest was being served, the process was bid in an open manner.

Young also told council about a policy she observed while affiliated with the school board many years before, how some services were rotated among vendors who charged a standard fee. Additional comments, including those from acting Police Chief Joe Aiken revealed that the two vet offices in Sidney had dissimilar holding facilities, with White Bluffs' location having four runs with exterior access and Sidney Veterinary Hospital having only one. Aiken said there could be times where more than one animal would need to be impounded and Dr. Cook and his staff live outside of town. Shelter considerations in inclement weather were also a concern.

With respect to rotating services, councilman Dalan Hiatt said that he would entertain such discussion at some point in the future.

 Council voted unanimously voted to award the contract to White Bluffs, which is owned by the Mayor for a period of five years commencing April 1st, 2010.

Breaking News Vet service bids released ***UPDATED***

Publisher's Note: The following table is compiled from the bids submitted by White Bluffs Veterinary Clinic and Sidney Veterinary Hospital, PC. The original documents are provided afterward.

According to information shared with theguardiannews, Sidney police indicated that 18 dogs were euthanized during the previous year. This information was corrected after the city council meeting based on information provided by Julie Young who looked at the billing statements for the service for the last year.

City ordinance 618 provides for the regulation of animals in the city and specifies the rates the city charges owners who must pick up their animals from impound and also indicates the length of time a licensed or unlicensed animal will be impounded prior to being put down. Currently the time for licensed animals is 10 days from impound and 3 days for unlicensed animals. According to Major Joe Aiken the largest amount of cost in the animal control budget is the impound fees and the monthly fees. Aiken has prepared a report on animal control statistics and will share it with city council members and the public at tonight's council meeting (3/23/2010).

Health Care Bill passed by the U.S. House last night

Publisher's Note: This is the copy of the bill (HR3590) voted on 3/22/2010 in the U.S. House of Representatives. HR 4872 is the reconciliation measure that is being debated in the U.S. Senate this week. Both Bills were sourced from the Congress.gov Website. You may search the items, clicking the download option.

President Obama's Executive Order on Abortion Funding via Federal Sources

Publisher's Note: Criticism has been launched at Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mi. Below is the text of the executive order to be signed by President Barack Obama as part of the negeotiations to bring pro-life democrats back into the fold for the health care bill voted on yesterday evening.

City Council Meeting Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 7:15 PM City Hall

The Sidney city council will once again meet this Tuesday evening at 7:15 PM in the council chambers for the purpose of discussing several items, reports and updates from city staff. Public comment is welcome.

Among the items for consideration are will be consideration of the city's animal impound and veterinarian services agreement and the consideration of bids for the north side power transformer replacement project. The sales tax refund fund legislation update for LB 967 will also be covered, along with a request to review and approve the financial statements for the month of February, 2010.

Supporting documents for this council meeting may be viewed or downloaded from here.

Sidney City Council Meeting March 23rd, 2010 supporting materials

Publisher's Note: The following materials provided are for the pubic in support of the upcoming Sidney City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday March 23rd, 2010 at 7:15 P.M. The meeting is held in the council chambers at City Hall. These documents are provided in unaltered form and may be downloaded for reader convenience. Documents are provided in Adobe Acrobat form and require the Adobe Reader application to view if you download them. Viewing in browser requires Flash, also an Adobe product. To get either, please to go www.adobe.com.

Sidney City Council Open Meetings Act

Publisher's Note: The Open Meetings Act is covered as agenda item 1 for each city council meeting. This link will provide you the same link as provided to all persons requesting a copy and is the same item provided to the media. A permanent link to this resource is provided for your convenience.


Agenda # 1 Open Meetings Law

The death of the American way

I have been on record for more than a year against the Democratic health reform proposal. I am not against health care reform as it is a system in dire need of modification. The proposals offered by super majority in the Senate and the House bill will ultimately not make the cost curve bend down, but will raise taxes on small business and adversely affect long term wage growth and employment (at a time we can ill afford a stymied rebound).

Hansel to withdraw from city council race

Dear Mike,

After much discussion with my wife and children, we have agreed to have my name removed from the City Council ballot.

Our focus right now needs to be on our family, and on helping the community work through this…especially those directly impacted by and tied to this event. This will mean freeing up some of my commitments to allow more time and effort to be put into the community and family healing that needs to happen.

We pray that the loss of Daisy may open the eyes and strengthen the voices of those who can and should speak out to save the lives of many other pets who endure brutality and abuse at the hands of their owners.

We are very pleased with the excellent list of candidates who have their names on the ballot and wish them all the best this election year.

Sincerely,

Jimmie Hansel

Love the sinner, hate the sin

The arrest Thursday of Todd Hansel for felony cruelty to animals has left a larger impact than just the death of an innocent and helpless beagle puppy. The violent end of one creature’s life has caused additional harm to a troubled man, his companion, his family, and countless other households who have, or will need, to sit with their children to try answering “why” this happened to someone’s little puppy.

Gallaway says great things require great effort

People say the third time’s the charm. For long time Sidney resident Roger Gallaway, he hopes the adage comes true for him as he seeks a seat on the Sidney city council. With ten candidates vying for three seats, he will need more than the turn of a phrase to be successful in his third attempt in six years.

Gallaway feels a passion to serve the people of Sidney, Neb. He hopes to leverage his skills in communication and project management and hopes to combine them with his community spirit in what he hopes will be a winning bid for city council. During a phone interview lasting more than an hour,
Gallaway discussed a variety of issues, giving his insight on the current situation for Sidney along with the need to keep an eye on the future.

How hard is it to write a prescription?

Publisher's Note: If you a story to share about your health care experience, as a patient, health care provider or insurer, send it to guardianofsidney@gmail.com

A woman calls Sidney Medical Associates for a new prescription each month. It is a maintenance prescription for her and she asks for it to be dispensed for the non-generic form. She had tried the generic after her doctor (whom she really likes) inadvertently had her try the generic formulation and she found the results significantly differed from the regular, name brand drug.

City Council Candidate Roger Gallaway

Candidate: Roger M. Gallaway
Current Career: Media Director, Sidney Public Schools
Education: BS in Education, Chadron State, double major in Basic Business and Library Media with a coaching endorsement.

Other Activities: Coaches Track, has also coached football, softball and base ball for many years. Currently serves on the Way Out West Community Theatre Board of Directors and is Vice-President of the American Legion's Baseball Committee. Roger enjoys riding his motorcycle, working on his Sidney home. He owns rental property in town and can often be seen painting houses in the summer.


Roger has three children, two of whom are grown. He says he feels fortunate to have named each of his children. Stephanie Kay Gallaway, whom he wanted to have a name all her own is 23, John Roger Gallaway, who shares names from both his father and grandfather, is 21 and Rachael Marie Gallaway whose name was nearly given to sister Stephanie, shares a near constant middle name with other women in the Gallaway family. Rachael is 6. Marshal Steininger, 21 has lived with Roger since his senior year of high school. Steininger is the friend of his son, John, whom Gallaway met while coaching football. He came to live with the Gallaways during his senior year in high school after speaking with his mother and feeling like Sidney was the best place for him to finish school. Roger welcomed him into his home, "as the 6'7" son I never had." Steininger recently took a job in Sidney as well and makes his home here.

Roger is engaged to Wendy Evertson of Chadron, who also has two children, Jacob, 13 and Julie, 10.  The couple and children will continue to live here in Sidney once they are married.


"I have been promoting Sidney to others ever since I moved here in 1992. I realized early on that I really enjoyed being able to call Sidney home."

You may contact him regarding his candidacy at
roger.gallaway@gmail.com

Candidate Interview with theguardiannews

City Council Candidate Jim Hansel

Candidate: Jim (Jimmie) Hansel
Current Career: Chief Operations Officer Memorial Health Center and Executive Director of the Health Center Foundation

Other Activities: Preaches at Sidney Church of Christ.

Married to wife Cristy for almost 32 years. Jim and Christy have three grown children, Chelsey (28), Todd (25) and Brett (24). The Hansel's are high school sweethearts, having been married for nearly 32 years. In addition to sharing the same high school, the couple were also Senior Class President's in succeeding years (Jim, 1977; Cristy, 1978)

The couple make their home here in Sidney.

Jim Hansel has published a candidate site

You may contact him through his site or at
jim4sidneycc@hotmail.com

News for Jimmie Hansel
Hansel withdraws from city council race.
Impact of son's actions poses consequences for candidate Hansel.

City Council Straw Poll

Theguardiannews has created a simple poll to give its readers an opportunity to pick the city council candidates they hope will advance in the May primary election. The top six advance by state statute. Please be aware that this isn't a scientific poll, but merely a way to kind of see a snapshot of the people who have voted.

The Poll will be open until May 1st and readers may change their vote as often as they want to. You can also pick multiple answers so have fun with it. Candidates are watching the site. Let them know where you stand.

If you have questions for the candidates, send them to guardianofsidney@gmail.com and I will get them answered. Have a great day and good luck to all of the candidates.

Michael Rowland, Publisher

TheGuardianNews Opinion

People continue to chatter that I sought special treatment from local governments for information requests or a place at the city council media table.  Despite the publication of Susan Ernest's letter on sidneyne.blogspot.com, people continue to believe that I skewed Ernest's comments. I am of the opinion that a small group of people insist on believing what they want and refuse to see what has been placed before them in black and white.

Hyperbole

Candidate Tim Hackleman posted a thought on his position that there was too much division between the people of Sidney and the representatives on the City Council. I have to give him credit for taking all questions, but frankly, the ones being debated on that thread are beyond the scope of what I think he intended. That is just my opinion, but frankly it is probably time for people to stop using his site to bash me and do it here. All you have to do is put a verifiable name to your post. I would be happy to discuss your issues with me or the site and incorporate any positive and constructive criticisms.

For those interested in the thread in question, you may find it here.

Transparency a double-edged sword

When citizens complained about the perceived transparency over the nature of the dual roles Gary Person holds as City Manager and Economic Development Director, the amount of chatter and clamor for transparency was stunning. It was also the right thing to do as the public has a right to know what goes into the decision to create or modify policies that affect how the government is run, or how it is reported.

Ernest's assumptions anything but

OPINION PIECE WARNING

I wrote this week about being relegated to the kiddie media table after someone in the "traditional media" wrote a letter of complaint to city officials. The letter, which led to some research by city staff defined media in two forms as print or electronic wave-based media. I sought and obtained a copy of the letter from Jo Houser, utilizing the open records request form and paying my fee of sixty cents.

I received my receipt, forty cents change and six pages of paper which included a memo from the City Manager to city staff, A copy of Nebraska Statute 25-523, which defines a legal newspaper (for purposes of being a vehicle for public legal notices), and a letter from KSID radio GM Susan Ernest. What I did not get was the name of the city councilman who asked Gary to look into the issue of media definitions and I am still waiting that response from Gary Person. I have another dime, if necessary.

Candidate Interviews: Tim Hackleman, Sidney City Council

This past Monday, Sidney City Council Candidate Tim Hackleman sat down with me over lunch to discuss his candidacy and a host of positions and issues he feels are important to him and the people of Sidney. What follows is a frank discussion regarding issues he is passionate about and gives some insight as to the kind of councilman he would be, if elected.

County Commissioners Meeting Monday, March 15th Cheyenne County Courthouse 8 AM

8:00 A.M. Roll Call
Announce Open Meetings Law Act
Approve current Agenda
Approve Minutes from meeting on March 1, 2010

8:15 A.M. Claims
Review correspondence, if any
Review and consider approval of Monthly Fee Reports

9:00 A.M. Charlotte Dorwart
Advisory Council to Aging Office of Western Nebraska

9:30 A.M. Diane Scott, County Treasurer
Report on Tax Sale
Report on Pledged Securities

10:00 A.M. Public Hearing to review and consider approval of:

Application from Kyle Mettin, General Partner with Sparks Farms,
Ltd, for a 19.73 acre subdivision known as Sparks Farms Subdivision
located in the Northwest Quarter of Section 34, Township 15 North,
Range 49 West of the 6th P.M., Cheyenne County, Nebraska and an
application to change zoning from Agricultural to Residential Estate

Application from the Village of Lodgepole for an 8 acre subdivision
owned by Joseph D. and Patricia Anthofer known as Oberfelder's
Subdivision located in the Southeast Quarter of Section 31,
Township 14 North, Range 46 West of the 6th P.M., Cheyenne
County, Nebraska and an application to change zoning from
Agricultural to Light Industrial.
The land will be sold to the Village of Lodgepole for the
construction of a waste water retention lagoon

10:30 A.M. Tom Noel, Highway Superintendent
Update on road activities

11:15 A.M. Dixie Brown
Handyman Service 2010-2011 Budget

11:30 A.M. Comments from the Public

Candidate Tim Hackleman News Analysis Page

Publisher's Note: Candidate Hackleman's blog has been getting some attention lately. This page will provide summary analysis and links to specific posts/comments for your convenience. Candidate Hackleman has since posted a statement on his Blog that suggests theguardiannews has taken his prior statements out of context and that other candidates would look for similar treatment. 


Theguardiannews feels that a particular issue in this election has been made over the intentions of persons presently representing the City of Sidney. Mr. Hackleman until today has simply referred to this issue in very abstract ways. Today he mentions that the problem with City Council Members is that certain councilmen bid on city contracts and that if elected, he would change the practice to ban all elected or appointed officials from bidding on city work. 

His justification for the proposed policy is to avoid the appearance of impropriety. It is a policy he is committed to and as such, theguardiannews makes no statement for or against it. That is up to the public to decide.

With respect to the commentary below, theguardiannews does find fault with Hackleman's logic, primarily due to the fact that it is legally permissible for sitting councilmen to bid on city work and it has been so for a number of years.  The oversight protections employed statutorily act as an appropriate check and balance under the present law and castigating sitting council members for participating in a legal manner is just wrong.


If you don't like the policy, act to change it and hold people accountable for the changes that can be put into effect. Theguardiannews stands by the analysis below, but will be happy to correct any area that suffers from misstatement upon correction by interested parties.


This publication remains committed to bringing the candidate positions to the public for their consideration. It is unfortunate that Candidate Hackleman used unfortunate language to characterize the intent of this publication toward any candidate as untoward. I sincerely hope he will remove the language from his post as soon as possible.

You're not quite there yet ...

Last night's City Council meeting didn't offer up any surprise. No conflict with the agenda, no lengthy question and answer session, no complaints about council interference with city personnel, no fireworks at all. It was one of the most calm and effective meetings I had seen in quite a while.

There was something different about the meeting though. It reminded me of the holidays of my youth. You know the kind where family gathers around to hear stories about all that has happened since the last time they had seen each other. One holiday specifically came to mind, including one particular activity: Thanksgiving dinner.

A Call for Engagement

The City of Sidney is conducting a comprehensive plan review and update. A copy of the survey can be found on the Council meeting notes for March 9th. Residents should receive one in the mail or should go to city hall and pick up a copy if you don't get one in the next few days.

A question on the survey was misreported in the Sun-Telegraph, who said "... if you’re a family with children living outside of Sidney, what could motivate you to move to town?"

City Council Meeting Tuesday, March 9, 2010 7:15 PM City Hall

Publisher's Note: The materials for the agenda are contained in a separate post.

theGuardianNews wants to hear you on Health Care Reform

For nearly a year now, the Congress has been primarily focused on the issue of health care reform. A  bitter debate over whether or not the government should be a single-payer system as in medicare, how to stop the practice of pre-existing conditions, or mandating that all people buy coverage, in order to spread the risk.

Sidney City Council Meeting March 9, 2010 supporting materials

`The following materials are provided as provided to theguardiannews by City of Sidney staff. An update for missing item 9 has been added.s

Jaycee funding effort par for the course

Recently, Jaycee President David Fritz came to the Sidney City Council to have March 1-7th proclaimed "Sidney Jaycee Week." Many of the community and youth activities the group promotes are done because of the money generated through fund raising activities. This weekend marks the third annual appearance of one such event, dubbed the "3rd annual Put-Put and Bar Crawl."

Will Walk (Ski, Snowshoe) for Mood

I work in the outdoor industry, a category that may be considered by some economic experts as a frivolous expenditure, especially given our economic slowdown.

I won’t deny it costs money to recreate. There’s the cost of gas, the purchase of gear and appropriate clothing, and equipment rental to name a few costs. While all off these items incur a dent in the checkbook register, if you’re like me, it costs more to forgo the “frivolity.” To me, a day outside is a necessity, not an extraneous expenditure. For me, it’s a return back to what’s important.