The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
I was fortunate enough to attend the latest City of La Harpe council meeting. It was only about ten minutes into the meeting and we were ushered outside in an impromptu executive session.
It was in these very cold moments that a lot of thoughts were entering my head.
It's cold, this is ridiculous, this is a farce, I want to go home, and so on and so forth.
While outside, my dad told me a quote by Edward Everett Hale and it follows,
I am only one, but I am one.
I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.
It was in that moment I decided I would not be going home, and that I would stand there until my one voice was heard.
I am sure that there are a lot of opinions going around town about what that meeting was. I will tell you one thing it was full of lies. s.
Lies about the water ordinance, lies about the firing of a city employee, lies about spending city money, and lies about one councilman being kicked off all major committees.
When my husband asked the mayor a few weeks ago who bought $800 in paint, the mayor said that it was voted on in a supervisor's meeting!
When I asked about it at the meeting I was told that the employees that work for the city roads bought it. t.
When I asked one of my alderman on the phone how Daniel Carpenter was fired, he said it was voted on in a Water Committee meeting.
When I asked that at the council, they said nothing is voted on in committee or supervisor meetings!
I also had the pleasure of reading the minutes of all committee meetings and council meetings held since Kienast has been mayor.
There was no voting done at the committee meetings, or maybe none recorded.
There was also no mention at any of the meetings of Daniel Carpenter having a deadline to get his A license.
When brought up at the meeting, the mayor kept saying the A license, and other things were the reason Daniel was fired. d.
But, since three people on the council voted not to have Daniel fired, it seems like the other things were obviously not a reason to fire him.
Another thing that upset me so much about the meeting was learning that a council person went to the workplace of a resident and told her that she had a water bill and needed to pay it or her water would be shut off. f.
One of the major problems with this was that he in fact told the wrong person.
In his defense at the meeting he said that he thought he had the right person.
I find this a travesty and when it is this close to Christmas, I hope she didn't spend the money on her bill that was going to be used to buy presents.
None of the wrongs that this council has done were cleared up in that meeting. Many of us expressed our feelings, and no answers were given. n.
So what can we as citizens do? We can use our one voice. We should not let the things we cannot do interfere with what we can do.
Call your alderman, call your mayor, and let your voice be heard.
I will urge all the citizens of La Harpe not to let these injustices slide, and do something.
Please, go to the council meetings and stand up against this travesty we call our current city government.
Thank you,
Lacie Thompson
La Harpe
Dear Editor,
I wish to make a public apology to Dan Carpenter and Tim Graves. I made a mistake and called their character into question. It turns out I was wrong. I would never purposely or maliciously hurt anyone. I am truly sorry. To anyone attending the meeting; I am also sorry.
It was not intended as an attack. I truly thought I was making a valid point at the time. I had gotten two separate incidents rolled into one.
Please know I simply got confused.
Rebecca Quivey
La Harpe