It takes a lot to grab our attention twice in one week, but Park Ridge Alderpuppet Robert Ryan (5th Ward) has done it with his letter in yesterday’s Park Ridge Herald-Advocate in which he offers his excuses for what last week’s H-A article and editorial called the worst attendance record on the City Council – and which prompted our Monday posting (“Saving Ald. Ryan?” June 23).
Ryan’s “defense” to the H-A’s critique is pretty much just more excuses, including his continuing insistence that he’s a really busy guy, albeit with a new twist: he argues that even if he misses his committee meetings, he still attends other (unofficial?) meetings related to City issues.
Once again, we remind Mr. Ryan that Council rules don’t give him the right to pick and choose which of his job duties he wants to perform, or give him the right to engage in “make up” meetings of his choosing in lieu of attending the meetings of the committees to which he is assigned. And once again, we say to Mr. Ryan: Do what the job requires, or step aside and let somebody else do it.
While Ryan’s I’m-so-busy excuse is merely flimsy, his proposal that the City Council’s four main standing committees be effectively handed over to a cadre of appointed “subject matter experts” on whose “expert unbiased recommendations” the Council can rely for its decision-making, is substantially more troubling. In short, Ryan envisions a City government run by un-elected appointees, legally accountable to no one, who get their positions of power because (at best) they may have technical “subject matter” expertise; and/or because (at worst) they enjoy the political, social and/or financial favor of the elected official(s) who will be appointing them.
Ryan’s proposal, while revolutionary for City government, isn’t really all that novel. It’s the main argument raised in defense of special-interest lobbyists whose sponsors point proudly to all the specialized knowledge and expertise they provide to the poor ignorant legislators and their overworked and underpaid staffs. It almost sounds patriotic – until you consider the lobbying scandals and the billions of tax dollars arguably wasted on “pork barrel” projects the lobbyists support.
Frankly, we haven’t seen a whole lot of value from all the “experts” (i.e., the hired-gun consultants) the City and the other local governmental bodies have utilized over the years. As best as we can tell – because nobody in local government ever really tries to quantify such things – the benefit to the taxpayers of all the “expert” recommendations runs from modest to zero.
Why would we expect any better performance from volunteer “subject matter experts” from the community, especially in light of Mr. Ryan’s own observation that we can’t expect all that much from “volunteer” elected officials?
More importantly, the American form of government was founded not on a lemming-like reliance upon the opinions of appointed “subject matter experts” but, instead, on the reasoned judgment of elected representatives (as James Madison writes in Federalist No. 10) “whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.”
If we really do need “subject matter experts” on any City committees or commissions doing the decision-making on significant issues, that’s probably a pretty good (or bad, if you prefer) sign that at least some members of the City’s paid staff are not providing an appropriate standard of competence and diligence. And the same might also be said about our elected officials, especially the Frimark Aderpuppet majority which has dominated the Council for the past year.
But as to the latter, we won’t be able to tell until we first know for sure that they’re all actually showing up.
11 comments so far
I emphatically disagree with the notion that elected officials are “volunteers.” In an election campaign, a candidate asks a voter to choose him or her over some other person because he or she can do the job better than the other person. It is deceitful to the voters for a candidate to say he or she can do the job, and then, after being elected, excusing his or her inability to devote the necessary time to do the job by claiming he or she is just a volunteer. A candidate for elected office is not volunteering; he or she asks to be chosen over someone else, makes a promise to perform a task (in fact I believe we take an oath to do so), and publicly makes a time committment. And we get paid (albeit not a whole lot), which takes us further outside the scope of being a “volunteer.”
I’m with you on all points, Dave. And as the PubDog post points out, if you don’t want to do what the job requires – irrespective of whether it’s purely “volunteer” or a “paid” position – then it’s time to step aside.
I wonder if Ryan likes a little Stilton with his whine?
Alderman Ryan:
You are to be commended for your service to the community and I thank you. I believe thanks are in order to all the alderman, no matter whether I agree with them on a position or not.
That having been said, are you kidding me with your explanation?????
I agree that attendance at standing comittee meetings does not tell the whole story. It tells only one part of the story, but it is a very tangible and measureable part. Feel free to call me unreasonable but I expect the alderman who represent the various ward’s in PR to attend the meetings. I understand that there are unforseen issues that come up in life. I have had to cancel meetings in my business life due to family issues etc. But, when one looks at the number of meetings you missed versus any of your peers, it can not be deemed acceptable. If you were able to miss 12 meetings I am forced to ask how important these meetings really are?
You also bring up the issue of aldermanic workload. I will beg off on commenting on your suggestion of subject matter experts for the moment. I will have to give it some thought and reasearch to formulate an opinion on if it will add value. My first thought is that you want to offload some of the current responsibilities to them. I cannot help but think back to all the benefits we were to receive by cutting the number of alderman in half. Now we have a workload issue??? Are you telling me that not one person realized that by getting rid half the alderman it would mean that the remaining aldermen would have to do more?
Then you mention “many of us in volunteer roles seem to attend meetings all week”. There is a prior post offering an opinion on this issue. Either way, I know you are not compensated in any significant way and I am sincere when I thank you for your service. I don’t mean to be cold hearted but I have to ask, didn’t you know what the job involved going in?
My daughter just finished her baseball season. I cannot thank her volunteer coaches enough. They made the season very special for my duaghter and it required a time committment on their part. I am sure there are days that they had other things they could be doing or work related issues that had to be put off until the next day. But, they made the committment. What would have happened if they only made half the games? I would like be involved in coaching my daughters team but I travel as a part of my job. It would not be fair of me to volunteer as coach, knowing I could not make the time committment.
We all have complicated lives with work, home family, community etc. We can’t do everything. We have to make choices. I know with me if I take on too many things I end up doing nothing to the best of my ability. I am forced to take shortcuts.
I guess I will close with this thought. If we completely discount attendance as a meaningful measurement does that mean that all the aldermen can miss 12 meetings?
I am a resident of the apparently under-served 5th Ward in Park Ridge. Yes, 5th Ward Alderman Robert Ryan has the worst attendance record among all the aldermen, according to recent media coverage by our local newspaper. The Save Cumberland Coalition is a bit….hmmmm….how do you say?…confused….Ryan has introduced himself to us, his merry little band of constituents, and we have voiced our concerns about the Cumberland Extension. He was indeed present at the Public Safety Committee meeting that we all attended, and then again at the City Council meeting we attended as well. His words to us?
“It’s never going to happen.”
Now, those words should be uplifting to any group seeking support from their fearless aldermanic leader. We should all be able to breath a collective sigh of relief and do the happy dance in our Cumberland driveways.
But, now that his record has been revealed, “Ryan’s many absences have not deterred him from making decisions on significant City issues, however, and his decisions have often been contrary to the expressed desires of his constituents.”
How should I process that bit of information?
Should I assume that he does indeed hear all of us? Should I assume he needs a hearing aid? Should I consider him Mayor Frimark’s rubber stamp extraordinaire? Do I rush him to the hospital for a brain scan?
“Ryan missed only one Council meeting, but was MIA for a whopping 12 committee meetings in his first year in office even though he chairs no Council committees, and does not serve as a Council liaison to any other City committees or commissions.”
As the Herald-Advocate editorial pointed out, he has “one of the lightest loads on the council.”
“He bucked an outpouring of opposition from his 5th Ward constituents when he voted to give the politically-connected developers of Executive Office Plaza a variance to add 8 units more than what the is permitted by the City’s zoning code. He also bucked his constituents living near St. Mary’s Episcopal Church with his support of a PADS homeless shelter there.”
Does he know where we live? Should we send him a post card, “Wish You were Here?”
He is the only representative the people of the 5th Ward have to represent their interests in the City Council. If he doesn’t show up, does that mean his constituents didn’t show up either? Gee, why doesn’t he call one of us to sub for him?
Are we supposed to wait for him to represent our concerns? The Save Cumberland Coalition isn’t likely to wait for evidence that Robert Ryan has been listening. It is my fervent hope that we will actually run into him at a city council committee meeting..errr…maybe…..? Then we can get re-acquainted…again….
Cumberland Patriot
http://cumberlandpatriot.blogspot.com
Alderman Ryan,
If your other commitments do not allow you to perform your aldermanic duties in a manner that is acceptable to your constituents, please resign so that we can get representation for our ward.
Why didn’t you people in the 5th Ward let Ryan know before the election that he was going to have to attend meetings and stuff if he got elected? This guy really doesn’t get it!
No… he get’s it. However, he believed that he could operate on council the way he did on the school board, by convincing other members of council that forming committee’s or “expert citizens panels” (of non- elected officials) to do the actual work then report back, for him to carry on the vote. However he hasn’t really convinced the council of this concept yet, but not by lack of repeated tries.
Think he’s really listening? Isn’t this one of those poision blogs his master Frimark talked about? Ryan in case you didn’t notice your constituents are voicing their opinions here – remember jackass the people who elected you – the people your suposed to represent…. Worst thing is that he thinks he’s doing a good job.
I have no idea where Ryan is coming from. What does he stand for? What’s HIS “vision” of Park Ridge. I know he’s real tight with guys like Steve Huening and Owen Hayes, which leads me to believe that Ryan’s got something going on with local real estate deals. That could explain his vote on Exec. Ofc. Plaza and his wanting to expand R-5 zoning.
If Ryan lives adjacent to uptown; and voted to expand R-5 zoning to uptown and adjacent areas; then is he preparing to sell his house to a developer who will put up a 5-story condo; because his house is adjacent? Just askin’ …
Anonymous 7/2/08 @ 7:25 p.m.:
It appears that Ryan lives at 411 Cedar in a residential area approx. 1/2 block east of Prospect and approx. 2 blocks north of Touhy. Zillow.com lists the house as 4,454 sq. ft. on a little less than 2/3 of an acre (28,335 sq. ft.) with a “Zestimate”d value of approx. $1.34 million.
While we have heard rumors of speculators buying up properties (and options on properties) around the borders of Uptown in the areas that would become R-5 eligible, we have not been able to confirm those rumors. So whatever financial gains Mr. Ryan or any other property owners in those areas might reap from an expansion of R-5 zoning are currently unknown to us.
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>