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At last Wednesday's Oro Valley Town Council Meeting, Mayor Hiremath spoke on the concept of "trust." It is to him, unfathomable, that residents do not entirely trust their elected officials or the town's employees. You can listen to his words in the video we have provided here.
Mayor Hiremath said he was "cranky" on the issue of trust. It annoyed him that a citizen, Shirl Lamonna, speaking at the hearing on the EEZ Innovation Park approval process, cited "trust" as one reason they wanted public input to be a formal part of the process.
Ms. Lamonna had stated the following: "One key goal of this plan is to Build trust through effective public outreach and communication. How should the Town grade itself on responsiveness to residents and building trust when we hear that you’re “trying to get rid of input”? That the zoning has already been approved - as if Staff can’t misinterpret codes? They’re human; they can make mistakes; and let’s not forget that they could be influenced by powerful developers. Happens all the time at all levels of government."
The statement seems quite reasonable to us; but it rankled Mayor Hiremath. The Mayor lectured the council and attendees at the meeting on "trust." "Trust is a two way street," he said. Lack of trust is "an insult to me."
When it comes to trust, our local elected officials are subject to a bit of Oro Valley history.
Many untrustworthy events have happened in the historical governance of Oro Valley. People have lost trust. The election of an official does not mean that everyone will automatically trust that individual. That trust will be earned over time. Maybe.
People feel more confident and trusting when they are involved than when they are not involved. By being involved, they will see how trustworthy are our town officials and employees.
Perhaps it is Shirl Lamonna's concluding remarks that sum it best: "Please consider where community input fits with the new Oro Valley tagline. Is it in our nature to stifle pesky town residents or is it in our nature to value community participation?"
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4 comments:
Mayor Hiremath, Democracy is a messy business! Citizens like to get involved in the process of government.
Definitions of trust typically refer to a situation characterized by the following aspects: One party (citizen) is willing to rely on the actions of another party (elected official); the situation is directed to the future. In a Democracy that is called voting!
The citizen voluntarily abandons control to the actions that will be performed by the elected official in the future. As a consequence, the citizen is uncertain about the outcome of the other's actions; he can only develop and evaluate expectations. The uncertainty involves the risk of failure or harm to the citizen if the elected official will not behave as desired.
In all cases, trust is not given automatically. It is a heuristic decision rule (examples of this method include using a rule of thumb, an educated guess, an intuitive judgment, or common sense).
Trust is earned!
To quote former president Ronald Reagan: “Trust, but verify”.
The citizen never abandons the right to question their elected officials!
In the “Real World” the degree to which one party trusts another is a measure of belief in the honesty, fairness, or benevolence of another party. The term "confidence" is more appropriate for a belief in the competence of the other party.
Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective.
Specifically, a situation can only be judged after the aim has been achieved or not.
John Musolf
What does he mean, "Trust is a two-way street?" Sounds like he's saying that he also needs to trust us (the citizens). He doesn't need to trust US. We're not making decisions that impact HIS life...well, other than for the day that we throw him out of office.
His whole "lecture" is rambling and he's way too thin-skinned.
It seems the Mayor feels the need to "lecture" the citizens during each Council Meeting. Often, these "lectures" make little sense.
Perhaps the comments hit too close to home?? What could he & his fellow lock-step voters on Council be trying to get thru without OV residents knowing about it? We better take a real close look at the draft energy plan (on Town website this wk sometime) & the forthcoming General Plan update to protect ourselves!
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