Week in Review: Common Decency
"Everyone needs training."
Week in Review
City Council, Monday, October 21
“It is rigorously accurate to say that one’s liking for absolute government is strictly proportional to one’s contempt for one’s own country.”
-Alexis de Tocqueville, Ancien Regime.
City Manager’s response to “social media” rumors
In an atypical move, the City Manager requested time at the beginning of the meeting to respond to a cadre of unaccountable pseudonymous writers.
Mackie, a loyal reader: “I hope the Council does not let an anonymous group of writers derail this proceeding and deceive the residents into believing misleading and false information that has a direct opposition to the BPU Board’s and the O&G’s unanimous votes in favor of this [contract] amendment. For this anonymous group to make up facts, to get others riled up to oppose something is unethical, and it lacks the common decency that they claim to be in pursuit of. This City Council should not award these actions.”
Ah, common decency—the authority to appeal to when no other argument remains (but one’s opponents still need to be discredited). We claim no decency for ourselves, and leave it to our ever-so-decent critics.
Still, we do apologize to Mr. Mackie for scribbling our “egregious falsehoods.” We apologize for writing that the contract amendment would be eight years, and not seven and three-quarters. We apologize for calling it an “extension,” and not “amendment.” And we even apologize for the contract’s conspicuously imprecise language regarding the section titled, “Benefits upon Termination without Regard to Cause.”
Yet we do not apologize for pointing out his partisan persuasion. Nor do we apologize for calling attention to his salary, or his raise, or the timing of this maneuver, or his apparent plans for the future of Hillsdale. It seemed to the listener, in the midst of Mr. Mackie’s agitation, that he would prefer citizens—writing under pen names or otherwise—simply accept the recommendations of the BPU and O&G, and not bother to care at all. No—we will show no such decency.
Public Comment
Numerous families who have been harmed directly by Mackie’s favored policies spoke against the contract amendment, while developers, slum lords, and government employees approved.
Ray Briner: “Well said, Dave.”
Doug Terry, former Hillsdale and Litchfield City Manager: “Please review what other cities do.”
George Allen: “By guaranteeing the City Manager his position for another 7 1/2 years, this Council will effectively nullify one of the most important powers of our representatives.”
Josiah Lippincott: “The City Manager position should essentially be abolished, and placed within the Mayor’s role.”
Barry Hill: “I’m a full supporter of [Mackie]. . . not what was out there on social media. . . If you saw that, was a person hiding behind a mask. I seriously doubt if the [Hillsdale] Daily News would print anything that didn’t have a person’s name, address, and didn’t fact check the facts.”
Joshua Waechter: “It seems simple to me: despite all [Mackie] had to say at the beginning, he wants a raise. . . and I have to pay an extra $5,000 all at once or at usurious interest rates in order to get my roads fixed on top of the two different road taxes I already pay.”
Chris Sumnar, school board candidate: “While it’s not on the agenda tonight, the mayoral form of government would be a disaster for Hillsdale. And if that’s the mindset we’re bringing into this, then you should confirm this. . . to protect us.”
Jeremiah Regan: “Mr. Mackie has told us he does not create policies such as the [SADs]. That’s true enough. But any of us who have been in this council chamber and seen him prevail on the members of Council and on the citizens by telling them that they will not get a new road in their lifetime, unless they submit to the [SAD], knows the power he wields. He smirks now—a common example of his condescension towards the citizens.”
Sam Negus: “It is my understanding that there is something in the City Charter saying that the manager has to live in the City.”1
Former Councilman Matt Bell: “We’re a poor city, and sometimes poor cities are just priced out of things that more wealthy cities enjoy. A $200,000 City Manager/BPU Director is one of them.” On the two-year severance package: “You could say it’s for cause or not, but with half a million dollars on the line, you can bet it would go to court.”
Uncle Ted Jansen condemned “false information on bogus sites.”
Ivan Pongracic, describing the method by which Mackie overrode the Council to file a lawsuit against him: “While there was a survey being done for the fixing of our street, it was discovered that the back fence on our property was jutting out too far into the back alley. . . We had that fence, we believed that that was our property. Nobody ever told us otherwise, and we were told that we needed to move it, and when we tried to reason with the city. . . it took about 18 months, before finally in May they said, ‘you've got to move the fence.’ At that point, my wife went and talked before the Public Works Committee, and it was unanimous by Councilmen Vear, Socha, and Paladino that we should have an extension until September 1. . . A month later we received a letter from Mr. Mackie informing us that we need to take the fence down by July 1. We reached out to Mayor Stockford, Councilman Paladino, and they said No, we had until September 1. . . In early August, we got a lawsuit from the City against us, which was completely shocking. . . Mr. Mackie at that point said, ‘I do not recognize the authority of the Council committees; the lawsuit stands.’ We were shocked by the level of coercion. . . I did not see the accountability.”
Matthew Kniffin, on the Three Meadows HOA condo development: “We’re talking about the City extending its liabilities and not bringing in tax revenue—the residents will be paying for their leaf collection, their plowing, police and fire for up to 25 years.”
LifeWays Facility
LifeWays is set to construct a 28,000 square foot therapy center in the Hillsdale industrial area.
Socha, who brought the matter to the table: “There would be a two-week transitional shelter included in the property.”
Paladino: “One of the concerns here is that there’s a school a few hundred yards away. . . I don’t know if we have any regulations on the books about shelters or drug treatment facilities in proximity to schools, but that’s something we could legislate if necessary.”
Sharp, not too worried about it: “It’s already near a school right now. Remember that.”
The affair is likely settled at the City level. The issue is now with our insipid Board of Commissioners, who have shown no inclination not to coddle LifeWays every step of the way—O brave new world!
Team Roles and Expectations Workshop
Mackie wished to bring in an old pal, Dr. Lewis Bender, PhD, to put Council and Staff through Team Building and Training for over $6,000.
Mackie: “It demonstrates what we’re going through and what we’re discussing here today, of why we need to talk about those roles and expectations.” On his prior relationship with Dr. Bender, PhD: “I have known Mr. Bender and been to many of his conferences. . . He does an excellent job.”
Socha: “I don’t see why we would spend this money from our budget on this at this time. . . We’re asking austerity of our constituents; maybe we could have some austerity here in the chamber.”
A telling exchange:
Paladino: “We can meet and discuss if we have issues. . . We can take practical steps to improve the relationship between the City Staff and the elected officials without spending money on out-of-state PhDs.” On the trouble of Council’s innumerable “small” expenditures: “That $7,000 is being raised from a Special Assessment. Money is fungible. It’s that simple.”2
Stockford: “That was a great comment, Councilman Paladino. I agree with you.”
Mackie, very decent: “If you [Paladino] don’t have the courtesy or wherewithal to show up to the budget meetings for the constituents, that’s not on the City Staff or us. . . that’s on the members who don’t show up.”3
Paladino, on the opacity of the budget as presented to Council and the public: “This is good team building. Here’s the issue: did any of you receive a line item of what was going to be spent this year? Not a fund amount; a line item. Did anyone know there was $6,000 budgeted this year for team building? I’m sure you could ask these questions, but you’d have to ask 10,000 questions.”
Mackie: “We can get you whatever information you want, Councilman Paladino. . . Everyone needs training.”
No motion was made; Dr. Bender, PhD, will not grace us with his august presence; Teams will not be Built.
City Manager Contract Amendment
One of Mr. Mackie’s primary contentions was that he is not responsible for raising taxes or SADs. Fine. And yet he accepted credit for repairing roads, while distancing himself from policies that would make it possible to execute those things. That is, he took the credit (and the money) while the Council majority took the blame (and no money). Not a great look for Team Building.
Mackie, on himself: “Job security. . . is great for me.”
Sharp, on himself: “You take this opportunity away from me to vote, and let another Council come in here and vote—that is not fair.”
Socha, on his constituents: “Having a contract extension in the middle of a contract is suspect. . . Many of our constituents don’t appreciate the severance.”
Vear, temporizing: “If we’re talking about the pay raise, I’m on that, no problem. . . David Mackie has done an incredible job. . . [But] I struggle with the extension going from four years to eight, and with the severance portion.”
Stockford, skeptical: “The fundamental issue is the timing of this. . . When there’s three years left on the contract, it just seems goofy.” On the likelihood of paying full severance with or without cause: “We fired a BPU Director with cause, and we still paid his salary for two years.”
Wolfram, on the contract’s length: “By extending it to 2032, new Council members won’t be able to have a say.”
Paladino, on Mackie’s lawsuit against the Pongracics: “A lawsuit is necessarily a political action. The point I’m trying to get at is that we don’t have full oversight. We can correct every action as it comes along, but if there was a pattern of actions that we disagreed with, we don’t want to correct those piecemeal.” [Performative scoffing and chortling from Vear and Sharp, the most decent of men.] “The Council is grumbling because they don’t mind this. But I do.”
The motion to grant Mr. Mackie his contract amendment failed, 7-2, with Morrisey and Sharp in support.
Vear insisted that Mackie still get his 2% raise (on top of the cost of living raise). The motion passed, 5-4. For the raise: Vear; Sharp; Morrisey; Stuchell; Wolfram. Against: Paladino; Socha; Pratt; Stockford.
Set Public Hearing for Three Meadows Condo Development
The city’s merger of its taxation power with the corporate developers moved forward, 8-1; Paladino opposed. Mr. Mackie’s performance as a BPU Director is measured in part by his success in “increasing the customer base.” We wonder if he will maintain his very decent neutrality with regard to this development.
City Manager Comment
Mackie, with a bizarre—and perhaps meaningful—demand: “I would ask Council to forward the emails you received on LifeWays and the amendment to my contract to the City Clerk, so she can make them part of the public record.”
County Commissioners, Tuesday, October 22
We will include coverage of this meeting in next week’s issue.
Upcoming Events
2024 General Election
Fauxglin preferred.
School Board
Jeremy Adams
Jordan Adams
Matthew Gordon
Christopher Sumnar
Ward 1 City Council
Jacob Bruns
Tony Vear
Ward 2 City Council
Matthew Bentley
Ward 3 City Council
Bob Flynn4
Matthew Kniffin
Ward 4 City Council
Robert Socha5
Sara Yacks
External Links
“‘Hillsdale is experiencing a surge of energy as investment in the community continues to grow. . . Allen Edwin Homes is thrilled to be part of this momentum by bringing more housing to Hillsdale.’” Free advertisement for Development in HDN’s “Good-News” section.
“Rail tourism brings significant traffic to the Hillsdale area several times a year.” The Collegian.
“[W]e’re not pushing any sort of religion on anyone here. The universe is our country, humanity is our tribe. We are completely open to anyone and anything.” The Collegian previews downtown’s forthcoming tea and yoga studio.
“Promoting humanity will always be at the expense of citizens—and will be disastrous for both citizens and mankind. If Americans want to preserve their liberty, they must defend their national and civic identity by preventing their country from, to quote Rousseau, ‘being absorbed by foreign peoples.’” Alyssa Cortes.
“I do believe that Donald Trump is unstable, increasingly unstable, and unfit to serve.” Kamala Harris.
“This ideological vacuum is compounded with relaxed censorship policies on platforms like X, thanks to its new owner, Elon Musk. To be sure, this has allowed more space to express legitimate viewpoints and is preferable to the old censorship system. But it has also allowed conspiratorial thinking to gain traction.” Christopher Rufo.
“George Soros’s foundations are supporting Compact, a publication that’s flirted with authoritarianism.” Vanity Fair.
“Everyone can have all the children they want and they can have children that are basically disease-free, smart, healthy. . . It's going to be great.” Heliospect CEO Michael Christensen.
Mayor Stockford: “A previous City Attorney told me that you can’t enforce residency requirements on employees.”
If money isn’t fungible, then what’s the point of money?
The Harris/Walz-Flynn sign combination is not an infrequent sight in Ward 3.
With reservation. After a difficult stretch, Socha has performed admirably in recent weeks.