By Dalia Diaz
If you saw last Tuesdays Lawrence City Council meeting, then you saw how Mayor Rivera thought of what was the most important.
During the open public speaking portion of the council meeting, four city councilors came up to the microphone to place their displeasure of Mayor Rivera holding up funding for new election voting machines. Mayor Rivera walks up to the microphone, as well, and very fresh ask the president to move on to the presentation of Museum Square Parking by taking it out of order.
The display of disrespect, from Mayor Rivera towards the City Council, showed just how unimportant the voting machines are to him and that he rather discuss spending $4 million on a parking garage. First, he tried to control the council be demanding that the Museum Square Garage item be taken out of order and while at the same time cutting off the public speaking of the voting machines momentum. Well, the council did not fall for his shenanigans and instead had the people, and the Mayor, sit through (and correctly so) the meeting until their document turn came up. At least those residents got an education on how other things are approved through the council. The city council should try more of that instead of appeasing people so they can leave earlier from meetings.
So many people have contacted Rumbo in agreeing with our story that it’s not cost effective or a smart investment for the millions of dollars to repair the Museum Square Garage. But you know Mayor Rivera, he loves to misspend money on city properties (because it’s not his money) as he has done with the DiAdamo property, the supposed new central office and other properties around the city.
The fact is that he also does not want the Election Office to have these new voting machines because he has a constant disagreement with City Clerk William Maloney as to how to operate the City Clerk’s Office. Mayor Rivera needs to know that the City Clerk and the Elections Office falls under the jurisdiction of the City Council. If Mayor Rivera states those two offices are not operating efficiently, then the message he is sending to the city council is that they know not of what they do.
That certainly was not the message he delivered while he was city councilor and William Maloney was Clerk. He never accused himself of those offices not operating well when he was on the council.
Oh, the hypocrisy!
