CityofBlanchard.com
THE QUORUM STANDOFF
February 15, 2012
The Quorum Standoff by Sara Liberty
A "quorum" is defined as: A minimum number of members in an assembly, society, board of directors, etc, required to be present before any valid business can be transacted. The 5-Member Blanchard City Council requires a minimum number of 3 Councilmen to conduct city business - hold meetings, pass rules, vote on issues, etc. - no matter how many Councilmen are remaining. Barbara Harris was appointed to the City Council by a 2-1 vote (Mike Ferencich, Bob Hagan vs. Frank Broyles). There was a quorum of members present when she was appointed, which enabled a meeting to occur and it also enabled a vote to take place, against the objection stated by Mayor Broyles that it was in violation of the Open Meeting Act. Barbara Harris was appointed to replace Jon Owens after he chose to quit the Council.
Jon Owens quit the Council altogether, moved away from the City of Blanchard, and went on with his life. Overall, Jon Owens was ultimately used only as a pawn in the ongoing power struggle game that is being played out by Mike Ferencich with help from previous Councilman Bob Hagan and now with help from Councilwoman Barbara Harris. Jon Owens started out like a knight in shining armor, but he eventually fell on his own sword.
However, Jon did ultimately strike a couple of significant blows against two officials who appeared more than willing to corrupt the Blanchard City Government system with bribery and conspiracy. And now, sadly, Barbara Harris has become the latest pawn in Mike Ferencich's ongoing
chess game, although she doesn't seem to have realized it yet. You would think that she would remember who it was that trashed and slandered her so badly in various ads within The Blanchard News when she was running for a City Council position against Mike Ferencich a few years ago, an election which she lost. Memories seem to be so short in Blanchard sometimes. Maybe the cityofblanchard.com should publish copies of those ads so she can remember what happened in the past and so she can remember the true colors of her new "friend", Mike Ferencich. Barbara Harris is an original Blanchard Citizen, but her current loyalties appear to lie elsewhere. Hopefully, Barbara Harris will see the error of her ways and join her friends and neighbors in combatting corruption and mismanagement in Blanchard's City Government by those with "forked tongues".
Soon after Barbara Harris' appointment, Bob Hagan, like most rats, also abandoned ship and moved to Newcastle perhaps to continue his mayhem in a new location. So now Mike Ferencich wants to appoint someone to replace Hagan as well. He has someone in mind who has potentially agreed to do his bidding, but he refuses to tell anyone who this person is until a vote on their appointment can be conducted. Why so secretive? Shouldn't the people in the City of Blanchard or at the very least the people in Ward 3 be able to know who their next Councilman, their Representative for Ward 3, is likely to be? Mike Ferencich seems to want to keep this person
under wraps until he can be assured of a vote, most likely in his favor. This secretiveness will prevent the Councilman from being vetted by the people he is supposed to represent. In addition, a second appointment to the Council by Mike Ferencich will assure him of a quorum and of a majority on the Council, all in his favor. This, in turn, will perpetuate his seat on the throne at least until the next election. Long live the king, huh?
At the most recent Council Meeting held on Tuesday, February 14th, Ferencich was thwarted on his most recent action to attempt to appoint this new Councilman. Congratulations to Mayor Frank Broyles for standing up for his convictions and for walking out of the meeting before a vote to appoint Ferencich's new pawn could be taken! If Mayor Broyles can continue to prevent an appointment to the Ward 3 Council position for 60 days from the date when Hagan quit the Council, then it will be necessary to hold an election to replace both the Ward 1 and Ward 3 positions, as it should be and as it should have been with Barbara Harris' appointment also. There will be another City Council Meeting in two weeks (Feb. 28th) so come to the meeting and support the Mayor as he continues to stand for his principles and our rights, fighting against Ferencich's push for ongoing supremacy on the City Council. more later….