Long Creek City Council Meeting September 8, 2016

Long Creek City Council Waits But Again For Lawyers Approval to Function

This Thursday night meeting of the Long Creek City Council left us again waiting for the City Lawyer to tell the council what to do.

1. In general the City has jurisdiction and exercises regulatory management over all rights of way within the City under authority of the City charter and state law....http://www.ci.sandy.or.us/Streets-Sidewalks-and-Public-Property/

2. Additionally the City has jurisdiction and exercises regulatory management over each right of way whether the City has a fee, easement, or other legal interest in the right of way, and whether the legal interest in the right of way was obtained by grant, dedication, prescription, reservation, condemnation, annexation, foreclosure or other means...http://www.ci.sandy.or.us/Streets-Sidewalks-and-Public-Property/

3. Anyone can ask to have their property surveyed. Why does the city require permission from a lawyer to survey public land within the city limits? Why is the city paying a lawyer to tell them they have the right to survey city property right of ways?

4. Why is the city stalling on what is considered their regulatory management over all right of ways?

5. Anyone can have their property surveyed at anytime and there is absolutely no need to have a lawyer say you can.

6. Why is there a need to have a special approval by the council or discussion to do so when it is an established right.

7. Why would the council procrastinate on fulfilling their regulatory right.

8. In the last 3 years multiple times I have heard the council claim that it was just minutes before a council meeting that they have got word from the lawyer and so its too late to address an issue or that the lawyer hasn't responded on important issues that are weeks old.  Does this repetitive action set some kind of record? Possibly as Marcellus, the guard, said in Hamlet, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark".

9. The city is actually paying a lawyer to advise them to ignore their duties as elected officials. 

So do we as citizens have a responsibility to proceed ahead with alternative moves to address a dysfunctional city council to protect our public land, is there a need for deeper investigation into why this is taking place.

What do you think?

Below is photos of the public land and boundary issues.