Ridgecrest Daily Independent
The public has been heard. After a string of callers strongly opposed the idea, Ridgecrest Mayor Eric Bruen on Wednesday nixed the idea of moving public comment to the end of city council meetings.
Callers voiced near-universal agreement that moving the comment period was a bad idea.
Some argued that moving the period to the end inconvenienced the public unnecessarily.
Ronald Porter noted that having the comment period at the beginning of the meeting is more predictable and convenient for the public.
“This is just a very bad idea,” Porter said. “It’s not serving the public. I just can’t find any reason whatsoever to do this. To change this now is just stymying free speech.”
Ridgecrest Daily Independent
Council Member Michael Mower resigned from the Ridgecrest City Council on Wednesday, effective Feb. 7. Mower said he and his wife plan to leave Ridgecrest for Iowa next week.
Mower made the announcement with mixed emotions, he said, after many years of council service and decades as a Ridgecrest resident. My major project was getting Downs [Street renovation] done. I guess now that Downs is done we can move, he joked.
The news came as a surprise to many.
Mayor Eric Bruen – who said he was aware of Mower’s impending resignation – presented him with a plaque of recognition at the end of Wednesday’s council meeting. The remaining three council members all thanked Mower and praised him for his public service.
The Ridgecrest City Council seems to be taking the pandemic more seriously these days — at least in terms of modeling protective practices during the pandemic.At the Jan. 7 meeting Mayor Eric Bruen, Vice Mayor Solomon Rajaratnam and Council Member Kyle Blades were all wearing masks. Mayor Pro Tem Scott Hayman, Council Member Michael Mower and Strand were not.Bruen alluded to RRH CEO Jim Suver s comment to the Rotary Club of China Lake last week. Suver during that Zoom meeting noted that