Jim Bryant and his wife Tammie apparently pleaded not guilty today to charges of providing alcohol to a minor and attempting intercourse with a minor. Trial date is set for September.

People have been grinning ear to ear and skipping and hopping in joy all over Coquille today and if reader comments are any indication it appears that the arrest of Officer Bryant is being well received throughout Coos County.

Public appreciation for Chief Dannels handling of this event is overwhelmingly supportive and appreciative that he placed the safety of the public first and did not try to bury this event as many believe the previous chief would have done. Unfortunately, citizen outrage over the Carl Foster incident and public complaints filed with the City Council two years ago went unheeded by then Police Chief Mike Reaves, City Manager Terence O’Connor and the entire City Council. Council members even called concerned citizens hairy unwashed and malcontents.

What does it take for the citizens of Coquille to realize that they need to clean house on the council, hire a professional city manager and setup a citizen advisory board to watchdog our paid and elected officials? Thank goodness for Mark Dannels. What a breath of fresh air to a city mired in the self serving incompetence of Terence O’Connor and Mike Reaves and the city council that enables them.

Last summer, Tammy Bryant, wife of James Bryant lost her job at the City for attempting to slander a police chief candidate on this blog during work hours. The City should have pulled Jimmy out then as well, or should have pulled him out when Carl Foster’s neck was broken in a simple arrest but they disregarded the safety of the public and left what may turn out to be a pedophile, no different than Wendi Boutiette may be, enforcing the law (I use the term loosely) in Coquille.

Unconfirmed reports from sources who prefer to remain anonymous have linked Bryant with young women previous to this event and more charges and additional arrests may be pending.

Where have we seen the prejudice of police officers, loaded for bear, go awry before and then cover their own actions by attacking the victim? This story of a wrongful arrest has not been picked up by the mainstream media but should be.

A girl’s family has filed a lawsuit against Galveston police for their assault on their 12-year-old daughter after mistaking her for a prostitute.

As the girl, Dymond Milburn, walked in her front yard, three men jumped out of a van and beat her about the face and throat, one of them telling her, “You’re a prostitute. You’re coming with me.”

Police attacked Milburn despite the fact that she didn’t fit the racial description of their suspects: three white prostitutes and a black drug dealer.

Three weeks after Milburn was hospitalized for her injuries, police went to her school and arrested her for assaulting an officer during the incident.

More details are at Rawstory but it is interesting to note that the child’s attempt to defend herself are labeled as ‘resisting arrest’.

“I think we’ll be okay,” said Anthony Griffin, Milburn’s attorney. “I don’t think a jury will find a 12-year-old girl guilty who’s just sitting outside her house. Any 12-year-old attacked by three men and told that she’s a prostitute is going to scream and yell for Daddy and hit back and do whatever she can. She’s scared to death.”

It is really hard to see police conduct as honorable when they stoop to such lows to cover their own asses. Naturally, I can’t help but think about Carl Foster and how he has been labeled guilty without any opportunity to defend himself.

The World and KCBY are reporting on the interview process last night to fill the seat ‘vacated’ by Kathy Hagen. However, the question has been raised since Hagen was not eligible on the day of election therefore she never won the seat and thus had no seat to ‘vacate’.

Mayor Britton, accepting the interpretations of city attorney, John Trew and city manager, Terence O’Connor, of council rules and the city charter is quoted as saying the council had no choice but to engage in this interview process.

“I would much prefer that the general election would select our next council person but our council rules say that in the event of a vacated position, this is the process we have to go through to select the council person.”

[Emphasis mine]

Nevertheless, it appears that the council might be violating the charter by having accepted an ineligible Hagen as elected to the council.

SECTION 12. QUALIFICATION OF OFFICERS. No person shall be eligible for an elective office of the city unless at the time of the election he/she is a qualified elector within the meaning of the state constitution and has resided in the city during 12 months immediately preceding the election.

Hagen did not reside in the city on election day, (unconfirmed reports state she may have been a part time resident for several months). So was the council remiss in treating Hagen’s ineligibility to serve on the council and resignation as a ‘vacated’ seat? Has the council misinterpreted the charter and state and local election laws to the detriment of the electorate?

Lawyer Matt Muenchrath apparently too busy to run for the election has seized on this opportunity to ease his way onto the city council. Frankly, I was impressed with Muenchrath and certainly hope he will make the effort to run in the next election two years from now but I feel strongly that he should earn his position by working as hard to get elected as Dian has done, including attending city council meetings for the last two years. Where have you been Mr Muenchrath?

There is a comment from The World which bears quoting

What a Shame wrote on Dec 16, 2008 1:47 PM:
My vote would go to John Spencer or for Dian Courtright. There is enough business type on the counsel now. We need someone in there that represents the working person for a change and get away from “that is the way we have always done it” thinking. As a former counsel member myself, sometimes you have to make tough decisions and I think that these two people are the ones to do that for the citizens of Coquille. I think a lot of the voting decisions that some of the city counselers vote on today are made because the counseler tends to have his vote decision go towards how that vote would affect only a small handful of citizens when the vote should go towards how it would affect the entire city or it entire population.

Dian Courtright certainly represents the local working class admirably and her high vote count reflects the public’s confidence in her abilities. More importantly Dian if some interpretations of the charter are correct, won the seat fair and square. If this is true both she and the voters are being disenfranchised.

Meanwhile there is considerable pressure being placed upon the council by City Hall to ignore the votes in this process, in other words, the citizens don’t matter and this is now a personality contest with only five judges.

Applications for the position of city council will be accepted until 5 PM and at 7 PM the public may attend as the council decides on a replacement for Kathy Hagen. Please show your support for Dian Courtright who campaigned so hard for the position and be at City Hall this evening.

As previously noted here, a local blogger is inferring a relationship between Concerned Citizens of Coquille, Dian Courtright, the mayor, Steve Britton and a council recall attempt launched in 2003 that does not exist. Eldon Rollins has written the blogger to correct the record.

To (HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED):
In reference to the article titled “The whys” in your news site: I suppose if there’s any connection
between Dian Courtright’s “Concerned Citizens of Coquille”, formed in 2007, and the City Council
recall committee of 2003, it might be me. I am fairly certain the connection is coincidental, although I was concerned then and am occasionally concerned now.
To date, I do not believe the Concerned Citizens of Coquille have involved themselves with the recall of City Council members owing to disputes over the sewage treatment plant. Dian Courtright was not on the recall committee of 2003…

You may read the letter in its entirety for a nice history on the ’sewage/water treatment debacle’ below.

The history of that recall committee runs about like this:
Dave Owen, as others, was having trouble paying his water bill and his pharmacy bill, and he had major health issues, and he was a bit angry about it, so he decided to initiate a recall. Bill Bradbury’s office, (Secretary of state), notified him he would have to pay a fee of some $ 200 or $300 bucks, and he didn’t have that money either, so Mike Cook and Steve Lyons paid the fee and took over control of the recall effort. They called several people up and asked if they wanted to be on the recall committee, I am one of the people who agreed to. I have never been opposed to having treated sewage, but I do think there’s a lot of shenanigans when it comes to the subject of pricing. I have been opposed to paying through the nose for something we haven’t gotten , as were several of the people on that committee back in 2003.
Please recall that we’ve been getting told since 1991 that rate increases were necessary for the purpose of paying for a new wastewater facility and qualifying for loans and grants. The big 2003 rate increase was supposedly to qualify for loans to be repayed over a 30 or 40 year period, and the grant in question was for about $250 grand, but I found out Coquille didn’t qualify for it anyway. The big rate increase of 2003 provided the City with over a million dollars a year extra revenue. That was 5 years ago. $5 million extra revenue with no Wastewater facility actually built yet, just to qualify for a $250,000 grant we weren’t eligible for in the first place.
When and if we ever see construction on this plant, it will be payed for with loans mostly, not with the money we’ve shelled out fo it over the last 5 years and for the next 3.
Mike Cook’s involvement with recalling the City Council was inspired partly by the fact that his wife Pat’s brother had told the City Council that they could get the Federal Government to pay 75% of the cost of20a new Wastewater facility. This was about 1997 or 98 as I recall. The City Council dragged their heels until the Federal Program was no longer in effect.
I kind of wish I could remember more of the names of the people who were on that committee, and i still have the list somewhere, but not with me. I recall that Jo Teel was on it, and Paula who runs the pet place out by the High School. At the 2nd or 3rd meeting, we were reminded by Mike Cook that Steve Britton and Jan Torbeck had not been on the City Council when all this had taken place, so we took a vote to take their names off the recall list. I do not recall Steve Britton cozying up to me in 2003, nor this year. I did acquire the impression he knew Mike Cook and Steve Lyons.
There were actually quite a few issues of mismanagement surrounding the Wastewater facility and the Water Treatment Plant that were related to all of this as well, as well as instances of sharp points of disagreement between what the City Council and Terence O’Conner were telling people at City Council meetings and what the State Water Board and the Rural Utility District were telling me.
As far as the issues surrounding the recent election: Kathy Hagen was and is ineligible to serve on the City Council at the present time, and Dian Courtright DID receive the next highest vote tally.
The City Charter, which can only be amended by a vote of the people, requires the City Council have a method for selecting people for vacancies, but doesn’t specify what that method is. However, strictly speaking, Dian Courtright isn’t being recruited to fill a vacancy til the end of the present incumbency of Kathy Hagen, she was in an election in which Kathy was ineligible to run, at the time the votes were counted, which means she cannot re-assume the position in January, and since Dian DID have the next highest vote Tally, it seemed fairly logical for her to be declared the PEOPLE’S NEXT CHOICE for City Councilor.
I am told that the Administrative rules that require the City Council accept applications are rules the City Council adopts for themselves and are subject to amendment more or less at their whim, so I’m not entirely convinced of Mr. Trew’s certainty that the City Council has no choice in this matter, although I don’t really know.
Eldon Rollins

There is a new book out about Rupert Murdoch, The Man Who Owns the News, written by Michael Wolff, which details the evolution of Fox News and its right wing bent. In essence, it is all about money and Murdoch acknowledges a dislike of Bill O’Reilly but keeps him because he makes money. (You can watch the video below).

As someone who believes very strongly that the media failed miserably to do their job during the build up to war in Iraq and fully investigate claims made by the administration I have a strong negative reaction to Murdoch and Fox. Tossing journalistic responsibility aside for a media formula that makes money and costs American lives is repellent. Worse, Fox News deliberately upsets viewers, riles them up, agitates them and plays on their fears… and their actions have been harmful to the public.

Of course, Fox was not alone, the NY Times and other mainstream media were just as complicit in taking our nation to war as the Bush administration. Had they done more than cut and paste White House press releases and done the investigations that many independent journalists and bloggers had done and used their resources and public access to inform the public that US intelligence was wrong, we very likely would not be in that quagmire and more than 4,000 US troops would not have died.

The very same can be said of small town papers on local issues, for example, I do not believe that The World has properly investigated the claims of ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ being sold by Jordan Cove with respect to the new LNG terminal. They have left it to citizens to do the digging up of statistical and empirical evidence and analysis of other projects and evaluate the likelihood of real long term benefits to the community.

In today’s profit driven news industry, independent journalists and bloggers are often on point in these investigations and now work closely with mainstream media to disseminate information to the public. Bloggers may not have all the resources of big media nor do they have the overhead and to a great degree they are not limited to the same constraints.

Locally, I write a weekly column for The Sentinel, an opinion column and occasionally do political reporting or report on other matters when I have the opportunity. While I enjoy writing for the paper and sharing information about energy and other matters, obviously I cannot be as down to earth or free with my opinions as I am on this blog.

For example, the paper would never publish the image of the ‘harpy’ that I found (though several people have told me it is a stunning likeness). For that matter, I wouldn’t publish that picture or the accompanying commentary in the paper anyway because that is what this blog is for. This is an opinion/news blog… my opinion about the news.

While writing for small town papers is much different than other large papers and journals I have written for, in each case, the publication hopes to inform or entertain their readers. Small town papers may not be as glitzy and not have multiple editors and fact checkers as their big city brethren but they do inform their readers, accept past deadline submissions, last minute photo submissions, late ads and classifieds and impart the spirit of the story.

Everyone is pleased and happy that the city council made a quick decision, rather than dragging the process out, to bring Dian Courtright onto the council to fill the seat vacated by Kathy Hagan. Everyone that is, except two bitter old curmudgeons with overt personal agendas or more accurately, personal vendettas. Without any regard for the city, the mayor, the council or Dian Courtright and the people who voted for her, these two want to use the unusual circumstances of Hagan’s departure to settle old scores that have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with Dian.

Desperate people do desperate things and often despicable things. Perhaps they will try a few tricks from the Fox playbook and succeed in working up the community, perhaps not. So far, everyone is just disgusted with them.