Judas Goat

A REAP resolution was adopted in Nov 2011 to do this project listed underneath.(click on it to read easier)

 

Well there you have it, in plain sight, right before your very eyes. Someone at City Hall has been planning all along on moving City Hall to the Duckwalls building in order for our long time practicing doctor to have a specialty clinic in the City Hall building. Also so a new medical doctor can be brought in to the City Hall building. And for icing on the cake, provide an office for High Plains RC&D at the Duckwalls building.

Is our economic developer the Judas goat leading it’s Sheeple to a path of certain misfortune? We are letting this Judas goat take away our property without cause. Anyone can see that we, as sheeple, have willingly let our elected officials eagerly participate in this fiasco. How are the Town of Buffalo City Hall offices going to benefit by being cast to the street. Put in the situation that they are a tenant paying rent for their office space.

City Hall is positioning itself to be at the pity of some landlord and will have to pay rent in order to exist. When you own your place of business you do not have to worry about being cast out on the street searching for another place to set up shop. The Town of Buffalo is restricted on entering contracts for more than one year at a time. So based on that, does it make sense to move City Hall and become a renter that has to renegotiate lease terms year after year, forever? Heck Hell loosing the drive up window ought to ruffle enough feathers to put a stop to this bonehead project.

But wait. We are being led by the Judas goat. The Judas goat leads it’s sheeple to slaughter. There is no forward thinking future here. Have faith in whoever the Town of Buffalo’s new landlord is. We can trust the new owner of the newly rented City Hall office space to make all of the right decisions and maintain the property to the standard that would be expected.

For an explanation of what appears to be a conflict of interest you should read this article. Ah bullshit bull hockey, don’t bother. Town of Buffalo Trustee Robin Daley, who works for Harper County Community Hospital the owner of the clinic business that needs more space, voted and made motions for this to happen on several occasions. And Holly Yauk a Harper County Community Hospital board member works for High Plains RC&D which will be getting the new office in the Duckwalls building.

That “Detailed Project Description/Budget:” you see above was copied from the most recent REAP Grant that the Town of Buffalo accepted in February after they voted to sell (not lease) the Duckwalls building in January. That total amount was for more than $34,000 from our state government to the Town of Buffalo. Now get this, 3 months after the Town of Buffalo voted to sell (not lease) the Duckwalls building in January to High Plains RC&D they paid just under $18,000 for roof repairs on the Duckwalls building. 3 months after ! Yes that’s right they went forward and authorized roof repairs on the Duckwalls building after they voted to sell (not lease as stated on the agenda) said building to someone else for only $5,000. Is anybody getting a whiff of it yet?

Is it any wonder that they only listed the agenda back in January as leasing Duckwalls. Recently the Board was enlightened about the concerns of voting to sell the building when the agenda said lease. The town’s attorney pointed out that they haven’t declared Duckwalls surplus property yet. Could it be that they haven’t declared it surplus property because they are still throwing money at it?

I mean think about it. The law says to declare it surplus property first. Hold a public hearing about declaring it surplus property. Then vote with a properly worded agenda on whether to declare it surplus or not. Once those steps have taken place is when they should vote to sell the property. The Town of Buffalo back in January skipped every one of those steps and voted to sell the Duckwalls building for only $5000. Never mind the fact that the agenda for the meeting listed leasing the duckwalls property

Did Town of Buffalo skip those steps because they knew they couldn’t spend the State’s REAP money on property that had been declared surplus (aka junk-no longer needed?) Or maybe they skipped those steps to deny the citizens of this town the opportunity to voice their opinion on this matter. (Caution)To prevent nauseous vomiting from this smell take shallow breaths.

They haven’t spent all of the State’s REAP Grant money on Duckwalls, yet. The REAP Grant window of opportunity to spend all of the money will not expire until February 2013. There is more work to be done to that building according to the REAP application. The Town of Buffalo using the REAP Grant money awarded to them in February (after they voted, in January to sell the Duckwalls building to High Plains RC&D for only $5000), will be used to pay for HVAC repairs on the Duckwalls building. There’s more than $16,000 of REAP Grant money left so why not spend more of it on a building they voted to sell (not lease) to High Plains RC&D for only five grand.

Sheeple do this all of the time. They put multiple tens of thousands of dollars into properties they own and then turn around and sell it for pennies on the dollar. Then after practically giving away their property they ask to rent it back with a lease that can only last one year at a time. It's getting stronger, hold cloth over nose.

But wait, the Judas goat only does what the shepherd allows. The Town of Buffalo is in need of a wise shepherd. Why is the Judas goat leading the herd to its eventual demise? As long as there is no shepherd around to lead this flock of sheeple, they will continue to follow the Judas goat wherever it goes. Remember the Judas goat’s life is always spared every time it leads the flock to slaughter. I wander if any of the shepherds will step up and point this flock in the right direction before it is all too late.

Without the goofy analogy- Why are the citizens of Buffalo in favor of losing city hall as we know in order to allow for expansion of a private enterprise such as the clinic? Why are the citizens of Buffalo in favor of bending over backwards to be put in a position that they become renters of property instead of owners of property. Why are the citizens of Buffalo happy that they are losing the long standing convenience of the drive through window in order to appease the Buffalo Family Clinic’s desire for more professional space? Certainly the citizens are please to know that city hall could be kicked to the curb from one year to the next because they will then be at the mercy of some landlord they have no control over. And the citizens must think highly of selling valuable Real Estate assets for pennies on the dollar only to turn around and rent back what they used to own. Why are the townspeople so gleeful to know that tens and tens of thousands of dollars of money is being put into the Duckwalls building followed by only getting five grand back out of it after the sale.

Why do some board members say that this is just a rumor?

The sheeple are following the Judas goat all the way. That overwhelming aroma is the smell of death coming from the slaughter house.



"The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly" Sowell

The responsibility of our municipal government does not lie in hands of a privilege few. We as citizens have the responsibility to keep tabs on our elected officials.  We have a town with a government, not the other way around. We are not a government with a town.  In the name of freedom, physical battles have been fought all over the world. Our call of duty on the home front is to be productive and educated citizens.  It is your sacred civic duty to pay attention.  If you can't take the roll of understanding what our local elected officials are doing in our name right here in Buffalo, then how can you justify bitching about what goes on down state and in Washington D.C.  Complacency is destructive.  An apathetic society will lead to tyranny. When few residents are paying attention to civic affairs city officials will continue to keep them disenfranchised.

FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT ARE STILL READING the following is the discussion that happened at the Aug 8th town board meeting.  This occurred following the board officially being made aware that they voted to sell the Duckwalls building when the agenda clearly stated that they were going to consider renovating and leasing the Duckwalls building.


Economic Developer-James Leonard- “On the Duckwalls property, if you all, if we want to put that back on the agenda, in a different manner, I mean that would be, I’m sure High Planes would like to know, if that’s not a favorite option, they probably would like to know if we don’t want to.”


Trustee Jarie Coggins- ”And, and we have been notified that the grant was received?”

James Leonard- ”yes”

Attorney- “And there will be several more opportunities for public input on that transaction because, of course, it’s all going to have to be declared surplus , the board has to enter into purchase to sell and a Real Estate purchase agreement a purchase to sell agreement, so there are several more opportunities for public input into that.”

Trustee David Orange/&(Attorney)-“Was our motion we made violate (No, no.) our authority under the open meetings act (No.) when we made a motion to sell something (No.) ?”

Attorney- “You don’t have to say exactly what it is you are going to do. Because then, of course, whoever drafts the agenda items would be binding you, and so Linda, by what she puts on the agenda would limit what the town board could do, well of course, that’s crazy. Obviously, allowing whoever prepares the agenda to control what your options are. So the purpose of an agenda item is to put the public on notice, generally, of what you are going to discuss. It was very clear from that agenda item that we were going to discuss Duckwalls, and what we were going to do with it, the the disposal. It did specifically say lease, but it was notice to the public that you were going to discuss Duckwalls and it’s future and that all that needed to be done. If anybody wanted to discuss Duckwalls, and what you all were going to do with it, that was certainly sufficient notice and they should have come and talked to you about it. If they had an objection to you leasing or selling it or doing or whatever or bulldozing it, they should have come to that meeting and addressed it at that time.”

Trustee David Orange- “Thank You.”

Concerned Citizen- “Can you tell me what the minutes reflect”

Attorney- “The minutes reflect: ‘the town board met with members of the High Planes resource and conservation development board to discuss options for the Duckwalls Building. Coggins seconded by Bishop made the motion to sell the Duckwalls building to High Plans RC&D in the amount of $5000 pending the approval of their rural business enterprise grant application for business incubation and office space. All voted Aye!”

Concerned citizen- “What did the agenda item reflect?”

Attorney- “That is in the consideration of the renovation and leasing of the Duckwalls building and of Town Hall.”

???- Inaudible question

Attorney- “It is disposal; I mean it is disposing of the interest in Real Estate. And once again, once again, this, it’s just to put people on notice of what is going to be discussed, they discussed that and it was disposition of an interest of length. Whether it’s leasing, whether it’s selling, you know they didn’t, you know they didn’t discuss, there is no indication then, that they discussed the renovation and leasing of Town Hall, even though it’s on the agenda. It was just to put the town on notice.”

Concerned Citizen-“This says to sell, the agenda said for leasing. What I’m saying is, if it is for sale, I’d like to know about that. I mean…”

Attorney- “Well you knew they were going to discuss Duckwalls, so you should have been there.”

Concerned citizen-“Wow, that’s pretty odd”

Attorney- “well yeah….”

Concerned citizen- “Well then, it should just say ‘we’re the town of Buffalo’ and we wouldn’t have to be here”

Attorney- “Well it does have to be, it was Duckwalls, it did indicate Duckwalls, and as I said, there are going to be several more opportunities to discuss the sale of Duckwalls.”

Concerned citizen- “It just doesn’t seem very transparent is all I’m saying”

Attorney- “Well whether it is transparent, and whether it’s legal, you know, whether it is transparent in your mind and whether it is legal are two different things.”

Concerned Citizen-“But still though transparency is important in government” “?????”

Trustee Alan Bishop- “I make the motion we adjourn”

Trustee David Orange- “I second.”

More Negative Bullspit Some May Not Want to Hear

During the appearances from the audience portion of the August 8th town board meeting it was brought to their attention that it seems they violated the OMA regarding their motion to sell the Duckwalls building. The town’s legal counsel was there and spoke out. That is when I believe a “heaping pile of buffalo chips” fell upon the room. Another citizen at the meeting,advocating transparency; pointed out, that based on what the town’s attorney was saying that the only thing the agenda would need to say is “Town of Buffalo”!

The local paper is currently clued-up also. They have received a link to the FOI Oklahoma Article that recognizes this issue. The editor made a follow up call to learn about the circumstances. The editor mentioned possibly contacting FOI Oklahoma.

The Assistant District Attorney has been aware since last week regarding this matter. It has been clarified that she could not be an investigator and prosecutor both. It was further explained if she investigated then she would become a witness and then wouldn’t be able to be the prosecutor. The Assistant District Attorney pointed out that in order for anything to happen an affidavit would have to be presented to her office. It was recommended that the posted agenda along with the approved minutes be given to the Sheriff. It was also recognized that the copies of the economic developer’s reports, that came several months before the meeting detailing plans to do what they did, could be helpful.

The Harper County Sheriff currently retains copies of the posted agenda, the approved minutes, and the two different pages from the economic developer’s reports from last fall and early winter. A printout of the FOI Oklahoma Article which contains references to some prior cases and attorney generals opinions has also been acquired. The Sheriff pointed out the assistant district attorney would not be back until next week and thus he could not go over these things with her until then.

Brian Wiles the Business & Energy Programs Director of Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture received information that outlines these state of affairs . They are the entity who awarded the grant that upon being awarded to High Plains RC&D was set to trigger the sale of the Duckwalls building to High Plains RC&D. The Business & Energy Programs Director of Rural Development with the USDA is currently seeking a letter from the Town of Buffalo for clarification on this issue.

Sunshine Law

FOI Oklahoma takes up the issue of the Town of Buffalo regarding violating the open meetings act in the following link.

The agenda says 'lease,' but Buffalo trustees vote to sell building

When you get back from reading that article have a listen to this speech from the movie Fair Game.

MAYOR LEADS THE WAY

It has finally been declared by the Mayor that Police is the number one priority for the town. He said we found a way to do it. It was also pointed out by the Mayor that the citizens want it. They deserve it. And they deserve to be protected. The Mayor continued to convey that it is also important to keep the county safe. It might mean that something in the general budget did not get as much money as what it should. We can get by to fund our police department. The Mayor then urged the board to vote for it.

During the board meeting, while taking advantage of having the Town of Buffalo's auditor present discussing ways to fund the police, the Honorable Mayor of the Town of Buffalo blurts out “Ok Derrel I’ve had enough of this. We’ve gone back and forth.”  Nipping it in the bud.

Oh wait a minute. It wasn’t the Town of Buffalo’s Mayor that said any of that stuff about police being the number one priority for the town. It wasn’t the Mayor of Buffalo saying that we, as citizens, deserve to be protected. It wasn’t the Mayor of Buffalo saying he found a way to fund police protection. It wasn’t the Town of Buffalo’s Mayor leading us toward solutions.

It was the City of Laverne’s Mayor that came to the board meeting saying those things.  It was Laverne's Mayor bequeathing leadership for the citizens of Buffalo.

It's kind of embarrassing, actually.