Jun 3, 2026 · 3 hr 2 min · 13 segments
0:09:04 - Consent Items: Proposed Executive Municipal Officer Compensation, Proposed Utility Enterprise Fund Transfers, Proposed FY2027-2031 Capital Improvement Plan, Proposed FY26-27 Salary…
Justin SorensenGuestHeyerHost
Ben NadolskiGuest
Jeremy SmithPanelist
Glenn SymesGuestRitchiePanelistLundellPanelistSteve BurtonGuestMyersPanelistLopezPanelistGrafPanelistRDA AdministratorGuest
Lisa StoutGuestGood evening, everyone.
Welcome to our city council meeting on June 2nd, 2026.
Let the record reflect that all council members are present, with the exception of Councilmember Washington, who will be joining us shortly, well, in about 45 minutes.
Honor guard, halt.
Left face.
Present arms.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States
of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Order.
Arms.
Post, colors.
Honor guard, face.
The audience may be seated.
each month as part of our special flag ceremony for the America 250 year.
We read a little bit about the founding of our country and today we're gonna read a little something about common sense.
It's a plainly written pamphlet of political ideas released in January of 1776, increased public conversation about the future of America.
Addressed to the inhabitants of America, the pamphlet titled Common Sense was read by or read aloud to hundreds of thousands of people within months of its release.
It described the population as America's and proposed a context for an independent future.
Paine argued that the cause of America should not just be a revolt against taxation, but a demand for independence.
More than any other single publication, common sense paved the way for the Declaration of Independence, unanimously ratified on July 4th, 1776.
During the war that followed, Paine's great contribution to the patriot cause was the 16 crisis papers issued between 1776 and 1783.
Each one signed common sense.
The American Crisis, number one, published on December 19th, 1776, when George Washington's army was on the verge of disintegration, so moved Washington that he ordered it read to all the troops at Valley Forge.
Its opening is among the most stirring passages in the literature of the American Revolution.
And this is the passage.
These are the times that try men's souls.
The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country.
But he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.
Yet we have the consolation with us that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.
It is dearness only that gives everything its value.
Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right not only to tax, but to bind us in all cases whatsoever.
And if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then there is not such thing as slavery upon the earth.
What a powerful thing.
And if you were there at the time, it would be much more emotional than it is sitting in this room.
I'm grateful for those founders of our country.
All right.
Can we all please join in a moment of silence? Thank you.
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