Merry 2010, blog followers! The city has truly taken a step forward and I can't believe nobody told me about this yet. When I set up my computer here, I did my typical search for internet signals and took my typical pessimistic tone. When the possible connections came up, I noticed an unsecured connection at full strength labeled "CCC"......"City Council Chambers"?!! Unbelievable. After a torturous time with a Mayor who was slow to embrace such pesky technologies as the internet and airplanes, I am tickled to see the adoption this blogger-friendly policy.
A mini-budget workshop has been going on since 7:00, the highlight of which came when Alderman Arnett asked for assurances from the finance director that the city council would not be jailed for violating the provision in the city code requiring a balanced budget. I once asked for assurance that I would avoid jail time, and was immediately "jinxed" by my lawyer, who didn't allow me to talk until I paid him a sum of money adequate to buy him a tailored pinstripe suit.
7:31
The Mayor just promised, I believe, to maintain the current tax rate and level of services. These types of promises are notoriously elusive when coming from a politician, so I will get verification from the city clerk that these words indeed were uttered in the record.
7:32
Alderman Israel just noted that we have 200 more employees than other cities this size, a nagging thorn that was quickly softened by the quasi-accurate statement that we have many more special requirements than other cities our size.
7:32:30
I'm done covering the work session because it's passed its allotted time. So let's focus on appearances! All Aldermen are present, a positive sign, and most are wearing suits and/or ties (where appropriate!). Alderman Arnett continues his commitment to facial hair, a strategy with the clear dual purposes of intimidating neighboring Ward 7 Alderman Ian Pfeifer and creating the aura of having the wisdom of the ages. Also there is a tall Christmas tree in city hall that has been nearly taken down, except for a few ornaments at the very top of the apparent 9 foot tree. Let's hope this obvious dereliction of duty on the part of Aldermen Paone and Kirby will not be a sign of things to come.
7:41
Meeting time. There is some type of award being presented, which I have decided to ignore because the word "insurance" appears in the name. While the award is being presented, let me direct you to an example of what political satirical writing is supposed to be.
There is another award being presented to a resident of Ward 1 for voluntarily clearing snow from driveways. He seems equally happy to receive the award and to not have to stay for any more of the meeting.
7:52
We are "privileged" to hear a presentation on overtime cost reduction. The report identifies lack of top-down management, poor monitoring procedures, and certain federally mandated overtime pay (for police and fire) as chief drivers of overtime. The most curious thing I saw was the declaration that certain "budgets were artificially reduced during the 2009-2010 plan preparation". Wow. Every April 15th I attempt to artificially manipulate budgets, without any success. Doug Smith explains that this means that a certain group of insiders knew that a particular budget would be high, but submitted a lower budget estimate as a motivational tool to reduce spending.
8:06
2009 Snow Emergency Report!
-emergency routes were cleared but was difficult to keep up with other streets
-priority is 1. emergency routes, 2. connecting streets, 3. businesses, 4. residential streets
-parked cars impeded plows
-300 calls to the 1 staff person at the water works plant
-county residents given the city emergency number (wtf!)
-city streets in Kingsport not even added to the 'street responsibilities'
-level III emergency
-general plans out of date
-all departments had independent plans and didn't know what the other departments were doing
8:21
Alderman Paone just gave it to CAO Doug Smith a little bit...."I personally spoke with you on Wednesday, and roads we talked about were not cleared after that discussion. What gives?"
Also, neither Alderman Pfeifer, Kirby, nor Silverman have said anything yet. They are clearly being dominated by Alderman Arnett's beard.
8:24
A lot of people are blaming the county for this, and blaming the county has been a trendy thing to do for like 8.2 years. The 8 years are not this Mayor's fault, but he should be concerned with the .2. As a former county councilman, Mayor Cohen pledged more cooperation with the county. There will be many more opportunities to showcase this partnership.
8:32
Comments from the Public:
Vincent Leggett: Supports renaming Obery St. to Bertina Nick Way.
Sam Brice: As a city employee, I see the city needing to (1) decide exactly what it wants to be and fund itself accordingly, (2) stand up to face and FUND our problems, (3) recognize that employees are the most valuable asset to the city and city needs to fund them adequately. The "second" thing he wants to talk about is the budget. "Stop creating new programs". The "third" item he wants to address is revisions to the ethics commission.
Herb McMillan: Let the public speak at the beginning of each meeting. "Budget has been balanced on the back of the taxpayers" as property taxes went up by 100%. City employees need to take pay cuts and some employees need to be cut. Net gain of 5 contractual employees is not the right direction.
Will Small: Police spend a lot of time on "trivial issues" and "trumping up allegations". Please add to city bicycle lanes.
Tony Evans: It snowed in Wisconsin when I was a teenager. More heavy vehicles and better planning are needed for snowstorms.
9:00
Public Hearing on CA-09-09: City Manager Form of Government
-Anne Lawrence: supports council manager form of government
-Dave Cordle: supports both charter amendments (city manager and tax cap). Be a representative government and listen to what the people want.
-Tony Evans: No such thing as a "water walker". Opposes city manager.
-Lee Fitting (sp?): As a consultant to city governments, council manager forms of government provide structural benefits.
-Bob Burdon: Chamber of Commerce opposes the CA. Now that we have a new administration, the timing of the CA is inappropriate and wasteful.
-Bill Kardash: ABC (Annapolitans for Better Community) supports the CA and the council manager form of government. We need to take politics out of operations.
-Trudy McFall: The fact that Doug Smith serves against the provisions of the charter is the latest example of why we need a city manager--the Mayor has too much unchecked power.
-Marcia Marshall: Favors council manager charter amendment b/c it fixes fundamental flaws in our government especially the fact that the city council has very little authority.
-Will Small: Supports the council manager CA.
-Gil Renaut: ditto.
9:31
Public Hearing on CA-10-09: Property Tax Cap
Bob Burdon: Chamber of Commerce opposes the tax cap because it hamstrings governments.
Herb McMillan: I am representing the 3,000 people that signed the tax cap petition in 2 months. "3,000 of us want a tax cap". County is in a better position than the city and they have a tax cap AND they fund schools. Tax cap measure is prudent.
Sam Brice: "I don't think this council needs to enact a tax cap. They just need to pay attention to the tax dollar."
9:43
Public Hearing on O-52-09 and $-56-09: Registration and Maintenance For Foreclosure Properties.
Mike Malinoff: DNEP needs better ability to track down people responsible for foreclosures.
9:54
I typically try not to do this, but I'm just to bored to stay for the rest of this meeting. I think any patience I have depletes as I get older. I try and find out about this stuff tomorrow. Goodnight!
Showing posts with label city council meetings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label city council meetings. Show all posts
Monday, January 11, 2010
Monday, December 14, 2009
City Council Meeting 12/14/09: Live Blog
It works! I'm here...with a new computer, a new internet connection, a new city council, and a new the same cynicism that has vaulted this blog to the 56th most popular local political blog in the General's Highway Corridor!
7:44
Ok, sorry for the late start. Had to set up the new internet connection and it took me a minute. Many new and old VIP's are here, and Mayor Cohen has started off the meeting with a brief statement from each Alderman of which ward they represent and where that is. If you are new to this politics stuff, here's the location low down:
Ward 1: Downtown
Ward 2: West Annapolis and Germantown
Ward 3: Parole
Ward 4: Outer Forest Dr.
Ward 5: Hunt Meadow and Central Forest Dr
Ward 6: Robinwood, Tyler Heights, other random streets
Ward 7: Inner Forest Dr and Bay Ridge Dr/Ave
Ward 8: Eastport
7:47
The most disturbing thing I've noticed so far is how tall Kenny Kirby and Ian Pfeiffer are. Being the only Republican, Alderman Paone in my opinion needed to rely on his menacing stature, voice, and trial lawyer experience to get his bills through. But if Kenny Kirby puts on like 7 lbs of muscle, he will clearly be the most menacing member of the council. I plan to immediately contact Alderman Paone for an emergency strategy session after this meeting.
7:49
A bit of procedural consideration: Attention Eastport residents: I like you. My last post was not meant to offend you. Please appreciate the attempt at humor and please know that I agree with like 97% of the stuff you fight for. Oh, and I know there are people from all wards involved in your causes. No hard feelings? Great.
7:55
Josh says he aims for 'efficiency' and to be 'the best run city in Annapolis'. Also, the third Thursday of every month from 1:15-4:15 will now feature a legislative work session aimed at increasing transparency and understanding of the issues. This of course also means that every third Thursday of the month from 11:15-1:15 I will be hosting a political tailgate in Hillman Garage.
Too many changes! Now, all Monday meetings will be BOTH a public hearing and legislative meeting. This is really not a change at all, as the distinction between the 2 types of meetings was much like the current distinction between commercial banks and Savings & Loans after the banking crisis of 1981: nothing.
New public testimony policy: when the buzzer goes off, stop talking.
8:05
The public is speaking...time to test this new policy.
The first speaker is Julie Stankivic and she outed a controversy that I haven't gotten to yet! Ross Arnett, an economics professional and chief understander of the budget, was left off of both the finance committee and the economic matters committee. The committees don't have chair-people yet, and word on the proverbial street was that this snub might be the result of a failure to properly promise his vote for a certain chairperson*.
*Rumor alert.
I will post the committee list for you tomorrow (or some other day).
8:12
Herb McMillan: "Reverse the trend; cut the budget".
Resident of Miami Ave: "The time to cut the budget is now".
Steve Samaras: "Brilliant selection of Doug Smith."
8:16
I went to high school with Steve's son, Drew, and he produced one of the most memorable moments of my high school life. In government and law class, Drew asked the teacher how fast over the speed limit do you have to be going to get pulled over. Our teacher, Mr. Kirby, reclined to an incredible angle of nearly 180 degrees horizontal in his chair and said "Drew, it's the limit".
8:18
Public hearing time. Like half of the room just left. I imagine they were supporting this, not with testimony, by simply by their presence.
O-03-09: limiting the height of building accessories in the MX district to 100 feet. "Accessories" appear to be clock towers, indoor theaters, and other things associated with the Park Place development.
8:24
Although my view from the back is obstructed, Alderman Arnett appears to be sporting a winter beard. I once tried to grow a winter beard, only to experience failure after 4 weeks of not shaving produced only the appearance of neglected hygiene.
8:27
A reader of this blog has cleverly utilized the comment technology, as I have received his real time complaint that I didn't list the committees. So, friend, per your request:
Economic Matters:
Alderman Israel
Alderman Paone
Alderwoman Finlayson
Finance:
Alderman Israel
Alderwoman Hoyle
Alderman Pfeiffer
8:30
(Still talking about the height of Park Place).
Park Place representatives: "We want you to help us out". What they actually said I don't know, as a late afternoon coffee manifested into an early evening bathroom break while they were talking. But I'm assuming they said that.
8:37
While listening to the PPP (Park Place People), Josh leaned back in his chair to a modest reclining angle that I estimate to be 100 degrees--barely leaning back. I will call Mr. Kirby (not Kenny Kirby) to see if he gives lessons.
Also, I would like to say that I use the moniker "Josh" not as a sign of disrespect, but in recognition of a commonality we have. We both have economics degrees from the University of Maryland. Sharing the experience of learning about 'Neo-Keynesian policies' and 'production possibility frontiers' while continuously being told to "Fear The Turtle" produces a "bond of lifelong boredom" that affords its bearers the right to call each other by any name or nickname they see fit.
But if he asks, I'll call him Mayor Cohen.
8:47
I've spotted a woman crocheting while listening to the proceedings of this meeting! Wow. If ever there was proof that meetings are boring, such proof exists in the fact that crochet is the reprieve from the monotony.
8:50
People disrespect the General's Highway Corridor. Here are the 5 best things to do on that stretch of beautiful Anne Arundel County, listed in reverse order for added drama:
5. Go bowling! As my favorite comedian says: Some people have their own bowling ball AND their own bowling shoes AND.....no friends. My ball is called the Activator*, my shoes are black Drexel lace-ups*, and....does anyone want to hang out tonight?
(*this is actually true.)
4. Buy a Christmas tree from Matthew Weller's stand.
3. Go to Lures. Locals owners that welcome you to their dream.
2. Bet on when the billiard supply store will go out of business, only to reopen as another billiard supply store.
1. Get on I-97 without driving on Aris T Allen Boulevard.
8:57
If they don't stop talking about Park Place soon, I'll be forced to write more jokes, and political humor can get old real quick.
9:06
Serious business now...public hearing on O-47-09: to prohibit the use of a taxicab's horn to announce its arrival. Those damned noisy taxicabs! I know what you are wondering: and the answer is: former Alderman Stankivic sponsored this bill.
Robert Eades (owner of a taxicab company): "This is totally stupid".
Alderman Paone is asking a series of questions that alerts me to the fact that he thinks it's stupid too.
9:11
All of the Aldermen are seated at acute (less than 90 degrees) reclining angles--they are actually leaning forward! That's just silly. A couple years of practice, and maybe they can learn to recline like a Mayor.
9:14
Alderman Arnett just pointed out that it's Maryland law that you can't honk your horn for any purpose other than an emergency. What a spoilsport. Oh wait. His point is that this law is already redundant of state law. So he thinks this bill is stupid too. Good point Ross*.
(*also on the economics-degree first name basis).
9:16
Devin Heritage: Let's not create unenforceable laws.
9:16:30
A red-haired person just walked in! Exciting! The audience now includes:
-a red haired person
-a woman still crocheting
-someone with so little regard for free time that he is live blogging a city council meeting
-various city workers that more or less have to be here
-a taxi company owner
-several other people who have yet to distinguish themselves
We now move to a public hearing on O-59-09, which would update our stormwater regulations to conform with state law.
9:23
Voting time! There is nothing on final reader because the new mayor and council want to learn more about the bills before making a final vote. All of the following were passed on first reader and referred to committee. The bills sponsors and co sponsors are listed in parentheses.
O-66-09: Clarifying Mobile Food Service Permits (Hoyle)
O-67-09: Rezoning of a Part of Duke of Gloucester St (#214) (Israel)
O-68-09: Changes in the Way Legislation Is Passed (Israel)
O-69-09: Establishing a Financial Advisory Committee (Israel)
O-70-09: Order of Voting (Rotating Sequence with Mayor Voting Last) (Cohen, Paone)
R-73-09: Establishing a Citizens Committee to Review Alcohol Laws (Israel)
Budget amendments passed over Paone's objection.
Adjournment: 9:37.
7:44
Ok, sorry for the late start. Had to set up the new internet connection and it took me a minute. Many new and old VIP's are here, and Mayor Cohen has started off the meeting with a brief statement from each Alderman of which ward they represent and where that is. If you are new to this politics stuff, here's the location low down:
Ward 1: Downtown
Ward 2: West Annapolis and Germantown
Ward 3: Parole
Ward 4: Outer Forest Dr.
Ward 5: Hunt Meadow and Central Forest Dr
Ward 6: Robinwood, Tyler Heights, other random streets
Ward 7: Inner Forest Dr and Bay Ridge Dr/Ave
Ward 8: Eastport
7:47
The most disturbing thing I've noticed so far is how tall Kenny Kirby and Ian Pfeiffer are. Being the only Republican, Alderman Paone in my opinion needed to rely on his menacing stature, voice, and trial lawyer experience to get his bills through. But if Kenny Kirby puts on like 7 lbs of muscle, he will clearly be the most menacing member of the council. I plan to immediately contact Alderman Paone for an emergency strategy session after this meeting.
7:49
A bit of procedural consideration: Attention Eastport residents: I like you. My last post was not meant to offend you. Please appreciate the attempt at humor and please know that I agree with like 97% of the stuff you fight for. Oh, and I know there are people from all wards involved in your causes. No hard feelings? Great.
7:55
Josh says he aims for 'efficiency' and to be 'the best run city in Annapolis'. Also, the third Thursday of every month from 1:15-4:15 will now feature a legislative work session aimed at increasing transparency and understanding of the issues. This of course also means that every third Thursday of the month from 11:15-1:15 I will be hosting a political tailgate in Hillman Garage.
Too many changes! Now, all Monday meetings will be BOTH a public hearing and legislative meeting. This is really not a change at all, as the distinction between the 2 types of meetings was much like the current distinction between commercial banks and Savings & Loans after the banking crisis of 1981: nothing.
New public testimony policy: when the buzzer goes off, stop talking.
8:05
The public is speaking...time to test this new policy.
The first speaker is Julie Stankivic and she outed a controversy that I haven't gotten to yet! Ross Arnett, an economics professional and chief understander of the budget, was left off of both the finance committee and the economic matters committee. The committees don't have chair-people yet, and word on the proverbial street was that this snub might be the result of a failure to properly promise his vote for a certain chairperson*.
*Rumor alert.
I will post the committee list for you tomorrow (or some other day).
8:12
Herb McMillan: "Reverse the trend; cut the budget".
Resident of Miami Ave: "The time to cut the budget is now".
Steve Samaras: "Brilliant selection of Doug Smith."
8:16
I went to high school with Steve's son, Drew, and he produced one of the most memorable moments of my high school life. In government and law class, Drew asked the teacher how fast over the speed limit do you have to be going to get pulled over. Our teacher, Mr. Kirby, reclined to an incredible angle of nearly 180 degrees horizontal in his chair and said "Drew, it's the limit".
8:18
Public hearing time. Like half of the room just left. I imagine they were supporting this, not with testimony, by simply by their presence.
O-03-09: limiting the height of building accessories in the MX district to 100 feet. "Accessories" appear to be clock towers, indoor theaters, and other things associated with the Park Place development.
8:24
Although my view from the back is obstructed, Alderman Arnett appears to be sporting a winter beard. I once tried to grow a winter beard, only to experience failure after 4 weeks of not shaving produced only the appearance of neglected hygiene.
8:27
A reader of this blog has cleverly utilized the comment technology, as I have received his real time complaint that I didn't list the committees. So, friend, per your request:
Economic Matters:
Alderman Israel
Alderman Paone
Alderwoman Finlayson
Finance:
Alderman Israel
Alderwoman Hoyle
Alderman Pfeiffer
8:30
(Still talking about the height of Park Place).
Park Place representatives: "We want you to help us out". What they actually said I don't know, as a late afternoon coffee manifested into an early evening bathroom break while they were talking. But I'm assuming they said that.
8:37
While listening to the PPP (Park Place People), Josh leaned back in his chair to a modest reclining angle that I estimate to be 100 degrees--barely leaning back. I will call Mr. Kirby (not Kenny Kirby) to see if he gives lessons.
Also, I would like to say that I use the moniker "Josh" not as a sign of disrespect, but in recognition of a commonality we have. We both have economics degrees from the University of Maryland. Sharing the experience of learning about 'Neo-Keynesian policies' and 'production possibility frontiers' while continuously being told to "Fear The Turtle" produces a "bond of lifelong boredom" that affords its bearers the right to call each other by any name or nickname they see fit.
But if he asks, I'll call him Mayor Cohen.
8:47
I've spotted a woman crocheting while listening to the proceedings of this meeting! Wow. If ever there was proof that meetings are boring, such proof exists in the fact that crochet is the reprieve from the monotony.
8:50
People disrespect the General's Highway Corridor. Here are the 5 best things to do on that stretch of beautiful Anne Arundel County, listed in reverse order for added drama:
5. Go bowling! As my favorite comedian says: Some people have their own bowling ball AND their own bowling shoes AND.....no friends. My ball is called the Activator*, my shoes are black Drexel lace-ups*, and....does anyone want to hang out tonight?
(*this is actually true.)
4. Buy a Christmas tree from Matthew Weller's stand.
3. Go to Lures. Locals owners that welcome you to their dream.
2. Bet on when the billiard supply store will go out of business, only to reopen as another billiard supply store.
1. Get on I-97 without driving on Aris T Allen Boulevard.
8:57
If they don't stop talking about Park Place soon, I'll be forced to write more jokes, and political humor can get old real quick.
9:06
Serious business now...public hearing on O-47-09: to prohibit the use of a taxicab's horn to announce its arrival. Those damned noisy taxicabs! I know what you are wondering: and the answer is: former Alderman Stankivic sponsored this bill.
Robert Eades (owner of a taxicab company): "This is totally stupid".
Alderman Paone is asking a series of questions that alerts me to the fact that he thinks it's stupid too.
9:11
All of the Aldermen are seated at acute (less than 90 degrees) reclining angles--they are actually leaning forward! That's just silly. A couple years of practice, and maybe they can learn to recline like a Mayor.
9:14
Alderman Arnett just pointed out that it's Maryland law that you can't honk your horn for any purpose other than an emergency. What a spoilsport. Oh wait. His point is that this law is already redundant of state law. So he thinks this bill is stupid too. Good point Ross*.
(*also on the economics-degree first name basis).
9:16
Devin Heritage: Let's not create unenforceable laws.
9:16:30
A red-haired person just walked in! Exciting! The audience now includes:
-a red haired person
-a woman still crocheting
-someone with so little regard for free time that he is live blogging a city council meeting
-various city workers that more or less have to be here
-a taxi company owner
-several other people who have yet to distinguish themselves
We now move to a public hearing on O-59-09, which would update our stormwater regulations to conform with state law.
9:23
Voting time! There is nothing on final reader because the new mayor and council want to learn more about the bills before making a final vote. All of the following were passed on first reader and referred to committee. The bills sponsors and co sponsors are listed in parentheses.
O-66-09: Clarifying Mobile Food Service Permits (Hoyle)
O-67-09: Rezoning of a Part of Duke of Gloucester St (#214) (Israel)
O-68-09: Changes in the Way Legislation Is Passed (Israel)
O-69-09: Establishing a Financial Advisory Committee (Israel)
O-70-09: Order of Voting (Rotating Sequence with Mayor Voting Last) (Cohen, Paone)
R-73-09: Establishing a Citizens Committee to Review Alcohol Laws (Israel)
Budget amendments passed over Paone's objection.
Adjournment: 9:37.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
City Council Meeting, 11/9
Let’s cut to the chase. It’s hot as shit in here because infinity people showed up to the city council meeting. They came for the Energy Park work session, and decided to stay for what promises to be an “energy” filled portion of the ‘public testimony’ portion of this ‘not a public hearing’ meeting.
7:51
A city employee won an award for saving the city money, and was entitled to 10% of his savings in the form of a savings bond, which is like working for years to save the animals and getting paid in a fur coat.
7:52
Committee reports are starting, which are meaningless, so let me say this. It’s good to be back. Back in the private sector, thriving, an astute observer and watchdog for the people. I know many of you were anticipating reading these thoughts as they come to me, but city internet access being what it is, you have been left totally disappointed. And if you are looking for even more disappointment, I invite you to examine the city hall PA system, which I liken to a cell phone conversation with your hand over your mouth in the middle of a hurricane.
Before we get started, for your reference, here is the flyer everyone is about to talk about.
7:55
The meeting theoretically started 25 minutes ago, and nothing has been accomplished. But don’t worry!! Here comes the public to speak. First up, Zina Pierre!
Zina: “I support Hoyle’s hate crime legislation”.
Me: “That bill (which is not even on the agenda) is a load…a day late and a dollar short as they say. Or where the you know what was Hoyle BEFORE the election when this came out, as they also say”.
Zina: “I support Carl Snowden”.
Another lady: advocates the investigation of the Bowling/Hoyle flyer.
Karen Jennings: Green party condemns flyer. “Annapolis was already a gay-unfriendly city”.
Cynthia Carter: against the fees charged for the new recreation center. “I haven’t seen the flyer but I heard about it and I support Hoyle in her condemnation of it.”
8:01
For the record, I would bet several thousand dollars that somebody running for city office in the most recent election knew about “the flyer” before it went out.
8:02
Cliff Myers: “I’m almost 52, and there comes a point in one’s life where you can’t parse words. What happened in the city was pretty ugly, morally repugnant, and abhorrent.” Flyer caused “irreparable harm”. It’s time to align elections with county and state. 25% turnout = it ain’t working. Partisan elections are useful.
Mayor: “Happy birthday”
Cordle: “I’m contemplating legislation to shorten this (upcoming council) term to 3 years”.
8:05
Dave Miller: said everything elegantly and perfectly about the flyer and the council’s lack of action, especially from Classie. “I spoke with Classie Hoyle’s campaign manager the Friday before the election to tell her about the flyer. I find it reprehensible that Classie took no action on this despite knowledge of it, and gained advantage from it. I demand that Classie condemn this, deny all involvement, and help find the sources of funding and development. I call on Classie to resign her seat since she doesn’t have the moral fiber to deny this act.” The speech was like 4 times as long as that but I couldn’t keep up with the typing. Very frank, direct, and correct words.
After this heartfelt speech, most of which was directed at Classie, Classie turned to Finlayson and was laughing. Un-fucking believable.
8:11
Someone tell Sam he is not the only victim of this flyer.
8:13
Classie Hoyle: “My campaign manager did not relay this to me. I found out about the flyer when the results were rolling in on Tuesday night. I will contribute $500 to the reward fund tonight”.
8:14
Scott Bowling: (note to readers, he was the victim of the flyer): “I care about this city. I obviously was not elected, partly due to events that no Annapolitan should be proud of. This is not about losing an election, it’s far greater. My character and reputation were impugned. My name to whatever degree has been tarnished. My belief in civil discourse quite frankly has been shattered. As with most disappointments, opportunity often presents itself. Ward 3 is probably one of the most diverse wards in our city, but as you really go through the ward and observe, we still remain very divided, and that is very unfortunate. We are not divided by roads; the divisions go further. Since leadership has not come from this body (the council), we absolutely must change the level of discourse. We must end the divisiveness and the notion that character assassinations and attacks are part of the norm and the political process. We must end the ability of individuals and fictitious groups to put out materials without accountability, as they know the board of elections has no teeth and they (the groups) will never be held accountable. Our city holds a place in the country’s history—we can certainly do better than what we’ve seen in this election. I have filed requests with the state attorney general and US attorney asking for a complete investigation. As I’ve said, and many have said before me, the actions of this election are really unacceptable and degrading to our city and to our place in history. I am committed to providing the leadership and stamina to ensure that the antics of this election never occur again. Hate crimes have no place in our state or in our city, or anywhere. I am committed to ensuring as much as I can that the individuals responsible for the hateful and bigoted flyer are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This isn’t about Scott Bowling, because I tell you, I hope each and every one of you has read that flyer. I want to think about the silence that has prevailed up to tonight, because I bet if the names on the flyer were replaced with the names of other candidates, we would be talking about this a lot differently.”
8:22
Guy on crutches: I am here to support Snowden and his appointment to HACA.
Robert Eades: “Find out who put out this garbage.” Robert loudly supports Carl Snowden while concurrently taking a shot at Trudy McFall. “The community loves a person who could bring some fairty (sic) to public housing”. “Just like people are rallying around Scott, as they should, you should rally around the poor people in your wards and communities”. True.
8:28
Trudy McFall: “This has been a really ugly election filled with smears and illegal activities. There were no consequences and people were emboldened to the point until we get to what happened to Scott.” The antics were “cranked up” including what happened in signed emails from Democrat party officials. Trudy is recounting this. “Nobody inside the Democrat party did anything to stop it, investigate it, or do anything. What has come home to roost is illegal, hateful acts in the name of elections in this city”.
Mayor: “I would call on you and anybody involved in the hate blogs to step up and help”.
Mcfall: “excuse me….”
Mayor: “no excuse me, you had your 3 minutes!! You have been a part of these hate filled smears and attacks against me for years”
(holy shit!!)
Mayor: “your smears over the past years hurt my family and my grandchildren”
McFall: “my criticisms were always issue based”
Mayor: “never”
8:33
Pastor: anti-flyer.
Apparently R-71-09 (which is not on the agenda) is the resolution that condemns hate crimes.
The mayor looks exhausted from her argument with Trudy. For the record, Trudy won on speaker points*.
(*Speaker points were invented by my 11th grade speech teacher to give a chance of winning a debate to people with inferior arguments. I once lost a debate on speaker points, and was confused for several years as to why a fuel that was 95% gasoline and only 5% ethanol was a solution go global warming, which was the debate topic. However, since everyone is now selling these 10% ethanol blends, maybe speaker points are given to…the winner.)
8:39
I have never met Tony Spencer, but I believe his title is “Director of Things Taxpayers Do Not Want To Pay For In Tough Economic Times and/or Things Duplicated In Other Departments”. He seems nice though.
8:41
Kungel, KUNGEL…I’ve finally learned Arthur’s last name. Anyway, let me ignore his comments and talk about something else. I have announcement: I have adopted Maryland Ave. as my official economic area/neighborhood in Annapolis. It’s great. There’s a dance studio owned and operated by a Georgetown East Elementary School teacher—she’s there whenever she’s not teaching our children. There’s a cigar shop, a coffee house, and an Irish bar—3 establishments that would sustain my own survival for quite some time. There are jewelers for when you propose to your fiancée, furniture stores for when you guys get married, art galleries for when you and your wife want to class up the home—and that Irish bar for when your wife drives you crazy. The road is bricks, which is historic. You can see the Naval Academy at one end and the State house at the other—a perfect endorsement of Annapolis’ charm. The antiques stores and the funny gift shop give a good reprieve to what you find downtown. I love it! Support Maryland Ave!
8:47
Arthur was given more than his allotted time. People seem to be amused. Arthur always has interesting points but they only deal with city matters in the most abstract of ways, to put it gently. “At least he doesn’t talk about what’s on the agenda”, a VIP seated next to me remarked.
8:48
Nick Berry (Annapolis Democrat Central Committee Chair): “Vital that elections be honest and transparent. Slime against Bowling has no place. ADCC strongly supports full investigation of this travesty.”
David Prosten (Sierra Club): I didn’t hear what he had to say because (1) I was talking to someone else and (2) the PA system is terrible.
8:52
The temperature has cooled down by probably like 10 degrees. I’m quite comfortable right now, except for my left posterior, which is uncomfortable due to my wallet--which is not thick with money--but rather credit cards, symbolizing debt.
Zastrow Simms: “Carl Snowden has fought the good fight for citizens of HACA”.
Lady involved in an EOE lawsuit: I commend you for fighting for your rights. The lady mentioned Annapolis blogs!! Shout out! “Classie did not know”.
Sharon Kennedy (Historic Preservation Commission): supports concept of energy park.
8:58
What is this energy park??? Why was this not a campaign issue?? I know the campaign issues. This must be a “new issue”. Yikes. I’ll have to investigate.
8:59
Ooohh, we’re now in a public hearing for a “memorandum of understanding” with the energy park people (R-63-09).
Tony Evans: classic case of thinking “I’m acting globally”. I believe Tony just said he’d been to windmill parks in Pennsylvania and China! His point (I think) is that we are behind the curve in energy generation and this is a chance to step forward. Move quickly. Note: Tony ended his testimony 1 second before the buzzer went off, showing a high level of talent and earning himself 200 speaker points.
Alan Hyatt: I didn’t get all of Alan’s testimony but I imagine it started with some type of legal jargon and ended with Alan being $3700 richer than he was when he came here today. I strive for that type of career.
Minor Carter: “I’m here to talk about electricity, but I must warn you, I’m not encumbered by a great deal of knowledge on this issue.” “We don’t need another lawsuit so don’t screw it up.”
Not an Annapolis resident: energy park is good.
9:20 (nearly 2 hours after the theoretical start of the legislative meeting)
No legislation has been voted on. Tony Evans has informed me that what is happening is that the group which submitted a failed bid to operate the energy park is trying to get the council to reconsider.
9:20:30
Bathroom break.
9:31
Still hearing publicly about the energy park.
9:45
Classie Hoyle: “I’m sitting here wondering why, with 2 companies that have compiled so much talent to work on this project, why we have to make a choice”. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that after she said that, 50% of the room rolled their eyes and 2 people actually got up and left.
The Mayor then tried to explain to her whey 2 competing private companies might not be willing or able to collaborate.
9:53
Its seems that the losing bidder, “Seven Seas”, was actually the company the city would have preferred, but they failed to provide proof of financial backing in a timely manner, so the next best company was contacted. When they promptly proved their financial ability, they were awarded the right to develop the project. At least that’s what I gather from how these people are arguing with each other.
9:59
The winning bidders seem competent too. These real estate and venture capital guys are really smart.
10:05
On the 19th, the 2 parties are presenting to the city council. Classie just said “Madam Mayor, I had not anticipated a long meeting on that day, with it being the 100th anniversary of the NAACP”. Wow.
10:08
Finlayson just said something for the first time in the meeting, and it was an appropriate and useful comment. On a side note, I saw the honorable Alderwoman at a polling location on election day. She was dancing and swaying sort of effortlessly, much as I imagine someone would at a rave while under the influence of some hallucinogenic drug. I’M SURE SHE WASN’T ON DRUGS, so don’t try and get me in trouble for saying that. I contrasted her emotional appearance with my actual emotions, and I realized it must be the feeling of a politician running unopposed.
10:12
Incredibly, the parties are now talking about collaborating, making the people who rolled their eyes at Hoyle seem like jackasses.
10:19
Paone just said that the “father of solar energy” is here right now. Sam said it too, but I believe Fred.
10:35
I believe Kenny Kirby is almost as tall as Paone. But not as menacing. And he doesn’t have a fan club.
VOTING!!
Sam wants to move R-70-09 and R-71-09 to the front of the agenda but they haven’t even been introduced and nobody knows what they say. But, the council will vote on them anyway.
Paone just said “I for one don’t have a copy of those bills” and everyone told him don’t worry about it, just vote.
Finlayson just asked the Mayor if they can merge the bills. The mayor said “I suppose” then asked the city attorney. After giving his trademark deer/headlights routine, he said the fastest way to do it would be to merge the bill. The answer, of course, is you can do whatever you want. Just make a motion to do it, then you can vote on whether to merge it or not. Problem is, Israel is an expert on elections procedures, and he’s lecturing everybody on the intent of all these boards and processes, and now everyone forgot what they wanted to do, which was to merge 2 “phantom” bills that only exist on the desks and in the minds of the Aldermen (except Paone). Isn’t city government fun?
10:41
City government is fun.
10:41:30
R-70 (Classie’s bill) is passed on first reader. Goes to public hearing.
R-71 (Sam’s bill) is also passed on first reader.
O-20-09: Newsracks in the Historic District. (NEWSRACKS! WHO CARES). Apparently nobody cares, and the ordinance was POSTPONED.
R-31-09 is the resolution accompanying O-20 and that was also POSTPONED.
O-49-09: Boat Shows (leasing the 2015 rights to the same people who have always done it). PASSES 8-1 (Stankivic)
O-26-09: Open Space Zoning District: PASSES 9-0.
O-28-09: Billing for Emergency Medical Services: PASSES 9-0 I think.
O-33-09: Establishing Standard for Use of Overtime: FAILS (it wasn’t even seconded).
O-36-09: Display Requirements for Sale of Fertilizer: PASSES 9-0.
O-44-09: Authorizing Police to Use Tasers: PASSES 9-0.
R-49-09: Fine Schedule for Violating O-44: PASSES 9-0.
O-46-09: Concentration Limit on Housebarges: PASSES 9-0.
O-48-09: Notice of Hearings and Permitting Procedures for Port Wardens: PASSES 9-0.
O-57-09: Lease of City Dock for 2010 Race Across America: PASSES 8-0 (Cordle just left.)
O-59-09: Stormwater Management Standards Conforming with State Law: POSTPONED
R-61-09: Support for Continued Funding of the Choice Program: PASSES 7-0. (Cordle is def. gone for the night and Stankivic abstained).
R-65-09: Annexation Procedure: POSTPONED.
PASSED ON FIRST READER ONLY AND REFERRED TO COMMITTEE:
0-65-09: R2-NC Zoning District Uses
R-66-09: Tolling Zoning Approval Expiration Dates
R-67-09: Street Rights of Way in Mary’s Mew Subdivision
R-68-09: Authorizing the Mayor to Negotiate Short Term Leases With Existing or Prospective Market House Tenants.
R-69-09: Naming the Gorman St. Building after Mayor Moyer.
11:25
Alderman Stankivic voted “no” on the first reader for the Moyer naming bill and now the Mayor is being a little short with Julie regarding procedure on the Carl Snowden appointment. A little late night fun. Paone and Stankivic want an opinion from either the Attorney General or the State Ethics Commission regarding a possible conflict of interest regarding Mr. Snowden. The Mayor wants them to accept a letter from the city attorney and her assurance that she’s “had a conversation with the attorney general”. Carl Snowden IS APPOINTED TO HACA. No roll call was taken.
Adjournment: 11:32 PM.
7:51
A city employee won an award for saving the city money, and was entitled to 10% of his savings in the form of a savings bond, which is like working for years to save the animals and getting paid in a fur coat.
7:52
Committee reports are starting, which are meaningless, so let me say this. It’s good to be back. Back in the private sector, thriving, an astute observer and watchdog for the people. I know many of you were anticipating reading these thoughts as they come to me, but city internet access being what it is, you have been left totally disappointed. And if you are looking for even more disappointment, I invite you to examine the city hall PA system, which I liken to a cell phone conversation with your hand over your mouth in the middle of a hurricane.
Before we get started, for your reference, here is the flyer everyone is about to talk about.
7:55
The meeting theoretically started 25 minutes ago, and nothing has been accomplished. But don’t worry!! Here comes the public to speak. First up, Zina Pierre!
Zina: “I support Hoyle’s hate crime legislation”.
Me: “That bill (which is not even on the agenda) is a load…a day late and a dollar short as they say. Or where the you know what was Hoyle BEFORE the election when this came out, as they also say”.
Zina: “I support Carl Snowden”.
Another lady: advocates the investigation of the Bowling/Hoyle flyer.
Karen Jennings: Green party condemns flyer. “Annapolis was already a gay-unfriendly city”.
Cynthia Carter: against the fees charged for the new recreation center. “I haven’t seen the flyer but I heard about it and I support Hoyle in her condemnation of it.”
8:01
For the record, I would bet several thousand dollars that somebody running for city office in the most recent election knew about “the flyer” before it went out.
8:02
Cliff Myers: “I’m almost 52, and there comes a point in one’s life where you can’t parse words. What happened in the city was pretty ugly, morally repugnant, and abhorrent.” Flyer caused “irreparable harm”. It’s time to align elections with county and state. 25% turnout = it ain’t working. Partisan elections are useful.
Mayor: “Happy birthday”
Cordle: “I’m contemplating legislation to shorten this (upcoming council) term to 3 years”.
8:05
Dave Miller: said everything elegantly and perfectly about the flyer and the council’s lack of action, especially from Classie. “I spoke with Classie Hoyle’s campaign manager the Friday before the election to tell her about the flyer. I find it reprehensible that Classie took no action on this despite knowledge of it, and gained advantage from it. I demand that Classie condemn this, deny all involvement, and help find the sources of funding and development. I call on Classie to resign her seat since she doesn’t have the moral fiber to deny this act.” The speech was like 4 times as long as that but I couldn’t keep up with the typing. Very frank, direct, and correct words.
After this heartfelt speech, most of which was directed at Classie, Classie turned to Finlayson and was laughing. Un-fucking believable.
8:11
Someone tell Sam he is not the only victim of this flyer.
8:13
Classie Hoyle: “My campaign manager did not relay this to me. I found out about the flyer when the results were rolling in on Tuesday night. I will contribute $500 to the reward fund tonight”.
8:14
Scott Bowling: (note to readers, he was the victim of the flyer): “I care about this city. I obviously was not elected, partly due to events that no Annapolitan should be proud of. This is not about losing an election, it’s far greater. My character and reputation were impugned. My name to whatever degree has been tarnished. My belief in civil discourse quite frankly has been shattered. As with most disappointments, opportunity often presents itself. Ward 3 is probably one of the most diverse wards in our city, but as you really go through the ward and observe, we still remain very divided, and that is very unfortunate. We are not divided by roads; the divisions go further. Since leadership has not come from this body (the council), we absolutely must change the level of discourse. We must end the divisiveness and the notion that character assassinations and attacks are part of the norm and the political process. We must end the ability of individuals and fictitious groups to put out materials without accountability, as they know the board of elections has no teeth and they (the groups) will never be held accountable. Our city holds a place in the country’s history—we can certainly do better than what we’ve seen in this election. I have filed requests with the state attorney general and US attorney asking for a complete investigation. As I’ve said, and many have said before me, the actions of this election are really unacceptable and degrading to our city and to our place in history. I am committed to providing the leadership and stamina to ensure that the antics of this election never occur again. Hate crimes have no place in our state or in our city, or anywhere. I am committed to ensuring as much as I can that the individuals responsible for the hateful and bigoted flyer are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This isn’t about Scott Bowling, because I tell you, I hope each and every one of you has read that flyer. I want to think about the silence that has prevailed up to tonight, because I bet if the names on the flyer were replaced with the names of other candidates, we would be talking about this a lot differently.”
8:22
Guy on crutches: I am here to support Snowden and his appointment to HACA.
Robert Eades: “Find out who put out this garbage.” Robert loudly supports Carl Snowden while concurrently taking a shot at Trudy McFall. “The community loves a person who could bring some fairty (sic) to public housing”. “Just like people are rallying around Scott, as they should, you should rally around the poor people in your wards and communities”. True.
8:28
Trudy McFall: “This has been a really ugly election filled with smears and illegal activities. There were no consequences and people were emboldened to the point until we get to what happened to Scott.” The antics were “cranked up” including what happened in signed emails from Democrat party officials. Trudy is recounting this. “Nobody inside the Democrat party did anything to stop it, investigate it, or do anything. What has come home to roost is illegal, hateful acts in the name of elections in this city”.
Mayor: “I would call on you and anybody involved in the hate blogs to step up and help”.
Mcfall: “excuse me….”
Mayor: “no excuse me, you had your 3 minutes!! You have been a part of these hate filled smears and attacks against me for years”
(holy shit!!)
Mayor: “your smears over the past years hurt my family and my grandchildren”
McFall: “my criticisms were always issue based”
Mayor: “never”
8:33
Pastor: anti-flyer.
Apparently R-71-09 (which is not on the agenda) is the resolution that condemns hate crimes.
The mayor looks exhausted from her argument with Trudy. For the record, Trudy won on speaker points*.
(*Speaker points were invented by my 11th grade speech teacher to give a chance of winning a debate to people with inferior arguments. I once lost a debate on speaker points, and was confused for several years as to why a fuel that was 95% gasoline and only 5% ethanol was a solution go global warming, which was the debate topic. However, since everyone is now selling these 10% ethanol blends, maybe speaker points are given to…the winner.)
8:39
I have never met Tony Spencer, but I believe his title is “Director of Things Taxpayers Do Not Want To Pay For In Tough Economic Times and/or Things Duplicated In Other Departments”. He seems nice though.
8:41
Kungel, KUNGEL…I’ve finally learned Arthur’s last name. Anyway, let me ignore his comments and talk about something else. I have announcement: I have adopted Maryland Ave. as my official economic area/neighborhood in Annapolis. It’s great. There’s a dance studio owned and operated by a Georgetown East Elementary School teacher—she’s there whenever she’s not teaching our children. There’s a cigar shop, a coffee house, and an Irish bar—3 establishments that would sustain my own survival for quite some time. There are jewelers for when you propose to your fiancée, furniture stores for when you guys get married, art galleries for when you and your wife want to class up the home—and that Irish bar for when your wife drives you crazy. The road is bricks, which is historic. You can see the Naval Academy at one end and the State house at the other—a perfect endorsement of Annapolis’ charm. The antiques stores and the funny gift shop give a good reprieve to what you find downtown. I love it! Support Maryland Ave!
8:47
Arthur was given more than his allotted time. People seem to be amused. Arthur always has interesting points but they only deal with city matters in the most abstract of ways, to put it gently. “At least he doesn’t talk about what’s on the agenda”, a VIP seated next to me remarked.
8:48
Nick Berry (Annapolis Democrat Central Committee Chair): “Vital that elections be honest and transparent. Slime against Bowling has no place. ADCC strongly supports full investigation of this travesty.”
David Prosten (Sierra Club): I didn’t hear what he had to say because (1) I was talking to someone else and (2) the PA system is terrible.
8:52
The temperature has cooled down by probably like 10 degrees. I’m quite comfortable right now, except for my left posterior, which is uncomfortable due to my wallet--which is not thick with money--but rather credit cards, symbolizing debt.
Zastrow Simms: “Carl Snowden has fought the good fight for citizens of HACA”.
Lady involved in an EOE lawsuit: I commend you for fighting for your rights. The lady mentioned Annapolis blogs!! Shout out! “Classie did not know”.
Sharon Kennedy (Historic Preservation Commission): supports concept of energy park.
8:58
What is this energy park??? Why was this not a campaign issue?? I know the campaign issues. This must be a “new issue”. Yikes. I’ll have to investigate.
8:59
Ooohh, we’re now in a public hearing for a “memorandum of understanding” with the energy park people (R-63-09).
Tony Evans: classic case of thinking “I’m acting globally”. I believe Tony just said he’d been to windmill parks in Pennsylvania and China! His point (I think) is that we are behind the curve in energy generation and this is a chance to step forward. Move quickly. Note: Tony ended his testimony 1 second before the buzzer went off, showing a high level of talent and earning himself 200 speaker points.
Alan Hyatt: I didn’t get all of Alan’s testimony but I imagine it started with some type of legal jargon and ended with Alan being $3700 richer than he was when he came here today. I strive for that type of career.
Minor Carter: “I’m here to talk about electricity, but I must warn you, I’m not encumbered by a great deal of knowledge on this issue.” “We don’t need another lawsuit so don’t screw it up.”
Not an Annapolis resident: energy park is good.
9:20 (nearly 2 hours after the theoretical start of the legislative meeting)
No legislation has been voted on. Tony Evans has informed me that what is happening is that the group which submitted a failed bid to operate the energy park is trying to get the council to reconsider.
9:20:30
Bathroom break.
9:31
Still hearing publicly about the energy park.
9:45
Classie Hoyle: “I’m sitting here wondering why, with 2 companies that have compiled so much talent to work on this project, why we have to make a choice”. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that after she said that, 50% of the room rolled their eyes and 2 people actually got up and left.
The Mayor then tried to explain to her whey 2 competing private companies might not be willing or able to collaborate.
9:53
Its seems that the losing bidder, “Seven Seas”, was actually the company the city would have preferred, but they failed to provide proof of financial backing in a timely manner, so the next best company was contacted. When they promptly proved their financial ability, they were awarded the right to develop the project. At least that’s what I gather from how these people are arguing with each other.
9:59
The winning bidders seem competent too. These real estate and venture capital guys are really smart.
10:05
On the 19th, the 2 parties are presenting to the city council. Classie just said “Madam Mayor, I had not anticipated a long meeting on that day, with it being the 100th anniversary of the NAACP”. Wow.
10:08
Finlayson just said something for the first time in the meeting, and it was an appropriate and useful comment. On a side note, I saw the honorable Alderwoman at a polling location on election day. She was dancing and swaying sort of effortlessly, much as I imagine someone would at a rave while under the influence of some hallucinogenic drug. I’M SURE SHE WASN’T ON DRUGS, so don’t try and get me in trouble for saying that. I contrasted her emotional appearance with my actual emotions, and I realized it must be the feeling of a politician running unopposed.
10:12
Incredibly, the parties are now talking about collaborating, making the people who rolled their eyes at Hoyle seem like jackasses.
10:19
Paone just said that the “father of solar energy” is here right now. Sam said it too, but I believe Fred.
10:35
I believe Kenny Kirby is almost as tall as Paone. But not as menacing. And he doesn’t have a fan club.
VOTING!!
Sam wants to move R-70-09 and R-71-09 to the front of the agenda but they haven’t even been introduced and nobody knows what they say. But, the council will vote on them anyway.
Paone just said “I for one don’t have a copy of those bills” and everyone told him don’t worry about it, just vote.
Finlayson just asked the Mayor if they can merge the bills. The mayor said “I suppose” then asked the city attorney. After giving his trademark deer/headlights routine, he said the fastest way to do it would be to merge the bill. The answer, of course, is you can do whatever you want. Just make a motion to do it, then you can vote on whether to merge it or not. Problem is, Israel is an expert on elections procedures, and he’s lecturing everybody on the intent of all these boards and processes, and now everyone forgot what they wanted to do, which was to merge 2 “phantom” bills that only exist on the desks and in the minds of the Aldermen (except Paone). Isn’t city government fun?
10:41
City government is fun.
10:41:30
R-70 (Classie’s bill) is passed on first reader. Goes to public hearing.
R-71 (Sam’s bill) is also passed on first reader.
O-20-09: Newsracks in the Historic District. (NEWSRACKS! WHO CARES). Apparently nobody cares, and the ordinance was POSTPONED.
R-31-09 is the resolution accompanying O-20 and that was also POSTPONED.
O-49-09: Boat Shows (leasing the 2015 rights to the same people who have always done it). PASSES 8-1 (Stankivic)
O-26-09: Open Space Zoning District: PASSES 9-0.
O-28-09: Billing for Emergency Medical Services: PASSES 9-0 I think.
O-33-09: Establishing Standard for Use of Overtime: FAILS (it wasn’t even seconded).
O-36-09: Display Requirements for Sale of Fertilizer: PASSES 9-0.
O-44-09: Authorizing Police to Use Tasers: PASSES 9-0.
R-49-09: Fine Schedule for Violating O-44: PASSES 9-0.
O-46-09: Concentration Limit on Housebarges: PASSES 9-0.
O-48-09: Notice of Hearings and Permitting Procedures for Port Wardens: PASSES 9-0.
O-57-09: Lease of City Dock for 2010 Race Across America: PASSES 8-0 (Cordle just left.)
O-59-09: Stormwater Management Standards Conforming with State Law: POSTPONED
R-61-09: Support for Continued Funding of the Choice Program: PASSES 7-0. (Cordle is def. gone for the night and Stankivic abstained).
R-65-09: Annexation Procedure: POSTPONED.
PASSED ON FIRST READER ONLY AND REFERRED TO COMMITTEE:
0-65-09: R2-NC Zoning District Uses
R-66-09: Tolling Zoning Approval Expiration Dates
R-67-09: Street Rights of Way in Mary’s Mew Subdivision
R-68-09: Authorizing the Mayor to Negotiate Short Term Leases With Existing or Prospective Market House Tenants.
R-69-09: Naming the Gorman St. Building after Mayor Moyer.
11:25
Alderman Stankivic voted “no” on the first reader for the Moyer naming bill and now the Mayor is being a little short with Julie regarding procedure on the Carl Snowden appointment. A little late night fun. Paone and Stankivic want an opinion from either the Attorney General or the State Ethics Commission regarding a possible conflict of interest regarding Mr. Snowden. The Mayor wants them to accept a letter from the city attorney and her assurance that she’s “had a conversation with the attorney general”. Carl Snowden IS APPOINTED TO HACA. No roll call was taken.
Adjournment: 11:32 PM.
Monday, September 14, 2009
City Council Meeting 9/14/09: Live Blog!
Many people tell me that the live blogs are their favorite feature on this blog. I am proud of that compliment, because turning the painfully boring into something useful and interesting is a key skill for anyone seeking a future career in economics. Some people have told me that they follow the live blog while watching the telecast of the meeting on television. Wow. In some jurisdictions that's known as 'double jeopardy', and is prohibited by law. I haven't heard of that much masochism since Mrs. Politics agreed to go on a first date with me more than 3 years ago*.
(Within 2 weeks of that first date, Mrs. Politics left for Spain--with a one way ticket and no plans to return. This is a true story.)
7:13
There is a work session going on right now, preceding the council meeting. Arthur, the historian whose last name I don't know, came up to me expressing anger. Trudy McFall, he says, always brags about how she goes to everything. "Is she here now?...no". Technically he is correct, but I pretended to ignore him just so he knows that he can't be a ghost writer of this blog.
7:15
Arthur just asked Tony Evans "what if there's inflation". I will now permanently ignore him.
7:15:30
Actually, deflation is a scary thing. I think it's scarier than inflation and I'll tell you why. With the case of inflation, the economy and the authorities can react. Employers can raise salaries to keep up with cost of living, banks can raise the interest rate on loans so that they make a real (meaning inflation-adjusted) profit, and central banks can raise their target interest rate to try and 'ease the expansionary pressure'. If you have deflation, it's harder to do the opposite. It's more painful and difficult to lower wages, even if the cost of living falls more than wages and your standard of living increases. Plus, interest rates don't rarely go below 0%. Banks would have to be SURE of deflation to actually pay you to take a loan. Conclusion: inflation and deflation are both scary. Inflation is the bigger concern now.
7:26
ALERT: SHROPSHIRE PLANS TO RE INTRODUCE CITY MANAGER BILL. So far nobody support him, including Doug Smith apparently.
7:29
An early start! Not a heavy crowd, but several luminaries. All elected officials are here. Alderman Israel sports a fresh haircut and receives a compliment from the Mayor. How nice. I have since learned that when receiving his new buzz cut, he requested "give me the Doug Smith". Funny.
7:32
A new 2 a.m. bill is on first reader, and there are people here who do not like this. The mayor knows this, and tries to deflect some ire by reminding people that there will be a public hearing for this bill, and that hearing is not taking place right now. As a result of her suggestion, nobody did anything different.
7:36
There are several council meeting hallmarks to look for when you are watching a meeting. The most famous is Alderman Shropshire addressing the crowd on television, but there's also Stankivic voting "no" on a first reader, committee chairmen cancelling their meetings, Alderman Paone growing another 6 inches, and the city attorney declining to comment on something. Tonight, I'm looking for something special--more than 2 Alderman asking to be added as co-sponsors to any bill submitted by Alderman Israel, an event that reflects the belief that Israel actually researched the legislation he submitted.
7:39
The public is now allowed to speak. First is candidate Cohen, opposing the 2 AM bill (on first reader). He pledges that, if Mayor, and if this bill passes, he will try to repeal the law when he becomes mayor.
THIS will tell you about 95% of what you need to know about the 2 AM "Bar Wars" back story.
7:42
A common theme is that even for things that might make sense, we should wait for the next council to consider it. I guess this makes sense for big issues, but city government shouldn't shut down just because there's a campaign going on.
(Note: There is a campaign going on. The primary is tomorrow.)
7:43
Arthur is telling the council the same thing he told me earlier. They seem equally appreciative of the information.
7:51
Minor Carter: Midnight bars knew what they were getting into when they opened.
7:54
Alderwoman Finlayson just made a surprisingly lucid argument, asking Minor "we make changes all the time to laws that were previously in place...are you telling me we shouldn't consider ever changing anything". I use the word "lucid" in the hopes that it means logical--I apologize for not knowing the meaning of the word, it's just that there's not that many chances to use the word 'logical' or any of its synonyms while at a city council meeting.
7:56
Tony Evans: The Market House is an example of why outgoing councils shouldn't decide on things. Tony calls Ward 1 a "tax colony" for the rest of the city, perpetuating the Ward 1 superiority syndrome that has plagued Annapolis for longer than this blog can document.
7:59
Ugh, more people are testifying against the 2 am bill, and my fingers are getting tired of typing. So, until something different happens, I am not going to type. Here is how it works. There is a certain population of Ward 1 who really does not want more 2 am licenses. They claim that the extra 2 hours of being opened cause exponential damage to their flower pots, and overall quality of life. Broadly, they are not all that interested in suggestions to enforce the laws (i.e. nuisance, vandalism) that already exist, or to recognize that parking reform could be a solution--since most people who urinate in flower pots do so on the way back to their illegally parked cars. They also tend to define fairness not necessarily as a level playing field for businesses, but as full disclosure of the unfairness at the time of inception of the business.
I tend to think of this as a squeaky wheel problem...the people who vigorously oppose this are also the people who come to meetings and are politically active. If you surveyed every citizen of Annapolis--not to mention the tourists on whom the city depends to create revenue--and more than 25% of those people opposed the 2 AM idea, I would do the unthinkable and let a Ward 1'er actually write a paragraph on this blog!
8:06
While various citizens debate with various Aldermen, let me take a moment to address a comment I received on my last post. The commenter suggests that blogging is so "passe", suggesting that I should "twitter" the proceedings of the meeting. I want to nip this idea in the but. For those of you that don't know, Twitter is a torture mechanism created by the Internet itself aimed at making obsolete the social networking site you just learned about, and making you feel inferior for not understanding what is a tool of only modest effectiveness.
The Internet has become self-aware, much like the robot in I Robot and the computer in War Games. First it created MySpace, which was replaced by Facebook due to the latter's ability to weed out creepy people. Sadly, Facebook actually requires people to mutually acknowledge that they are friends in real life before they can be friends on the web site. With Twitter, you can search for your favorite celebrity, non-celebrity, friend, victim, or other entity, then unilaterally sign up to "follow" that person, which allows you to receive 140-letter updates of what the person you are following is doing or thinking at any given time.
Twitter is useful in some circumstances, but one outlet for me to articulate my brain activity is more than adequate.
8:19
In my life, I have heard the words "Ward 1 Sector Study" just as many times as I have heard the words "would you like a lime in that", a correlation that highlights the measures a sane person must take to counteract the effect of political involvement.
8:28
Voting Time.
Shropshire moves to add CA-08-09, a new city manager charter amendment.
They are doing something regarding the new parking fees but it's not on the agenda and I can't hear what they're saying.
O-25-09: Requires the Public Works Department to establish and implement at 10-year water and sewer plan. PASSES 9-0.
O-32-09: Directs the order of voting for a roll call to be a "rotating sequence". FAILS 5-4 (I think...the PA system is too damn inaudible.) (voting no: Moyer, Israel, Cordle, Stankivic, Arnett).
Bills Passed on First Reader:
O-27-09: 2 AM licenses.
O-50-09: Lease of dock space for a sailboat race.
O-52-09: Rules for foreclosure properties.
R-56-09: Fines to accompany the foreclosure ordinance.
R-54-09: To declare September 2009 as "Family Day"! (Not a joke). Rules suspended. "Family Day" adopted on final reader.
There are some appointments and budget revisions that you may want to look at, perhaps particularly Carl Snowden to the HACA board.
September 28th meeting moved to October 5 because of Yom Kippur.
910: adjournment.
(Within 2 weeks of that first date, Mrs. Politics left for Spain--with a one way ticket and no plans to return. This is a true story.)
7:13
There is a work session going on right now, preceding the council meeting. Arthur, the historian whose last name I don't know, came up to me expressing anger. Trudy McFall, he says, always brags about how she goes to everything. "Is she here now?...no". Technically he is correct, but I pretended to ignore him just so he knows that he can't be a ghost writer of this blog.
7:15
Arthur just asked Tony Evans "what if there's inflation". I will now permanently ignore him.
7:15:30
Actually, deflation is a scary thing. I think it's scarier than inflation and I'll tell you why. With the case of inflation, the economy and the authorities can react. Employers can raise salaries to keep up with cost of living, banks can raise the interest rate on loans so that they make a real (meaning inflation-adjusted) profit, and central banks can raise their target interest rate to try and 'ease the expansionary pressure'. If you have deflation, it's harder to do the opposite. It's more painful and difficult to lower wages, even if the cost of living falls more than wages and your standard of living increases. Plus, interest rates don't rarely go below 0%. Banks would have to be SURE of deflation to actually pay you to take a loan. Conclusion: inflation and deflation are both scary. Inflation is the bigger concern now.
7:26
ALERT: SHROPSHIRE PLANS TO RE INTRODUCE CITY MANAGER BILL. So far nobody support him, including Doug Smith apparently.
7:29
An early start! Not a heavy crowd, but several luminaries. All elected officials are here. Alderman Israel sports a fresh haircut and receives a compliment from the Mayor. How nice. I have since learned that when receiving his new buzz cut, he requested "give me the Doug Smith". Funny.
7:32
A new 2 a.m. bill is on first reader, and there are people here who do not like this. The mayor knows this, and tries to deflect some ire by reminding people that there will be a public hearing for this bill, and that hearing is not taking place right now. As a result of her suggestion, nobody did anything different.
7:36
There are several council meeting hallmarks to look for when you are watching a meeting. The most famous is Alderman Shropshire addressing the crowd on television, but there's also Stankivic voting "no" on a first reader, committee chairmen cancelling their meetings, Alderman Paone growing another 6 inches, and the city attorney declining to comment on something. Tonight, I'm looking for something special--more than 2 Alderman asking to be added as co-sponsors to any bill submitted by Alderman Israel, an event that reflects the belief that Israel actually researched the legislation he submitted.
7:39
The public is now allowed to speak. First is candidate Cohen, opposing the 2 AM bill (on first reader). He pledges that, if Mayor, and if this bill passes, he will try to repeal the law when he becomes mayor.
THIS will tell you about 95% of what you need to know about the 2 AM "Bar Wars" back story.
7:42
A common theme is that even for things that might make sense, we should wait for the next council to consider it. I guess this makes sense for big issues, but city government shouldn't shut down just because there's a campaign going on.
(Note: There is a campaign going on. The primary is tomorrow.)
7:43
Arthur is telling the council the same thing he told me earlier. They seem equally appreciative of the information.
7:51
Minor Carter: Midnight bars knew what they were getting into when they opened.
7:54
Alderwoman Finlayson just made a surprisingly lucid argument, asking Minor "we make changes all the time to laws that were previously in place...are you telling me we shouldn't consider ever changing anything". I use the word "lucid" in the hopes that it means logical--I apologize for not knowing the meaning of the word, it's just that there's not that many chances to use the word 'logical' or any of its synonyms while at a city council meeting.
7:56
Tony Evans: The Market House is an example of why outgoing councils shouldn't decide on things. Tony calls Ward 1 a "tax colony" for the rest of the city, perpetuating the Ward 1 superiority syndrome that has plagued Annapolis for longer than this blog can document.
7:59
Ugh, more people are testifying against the 2 am bill, and my fingers are getting tired of typing. So, until something different happens, I am not going to type. Here is how it works. There is a certain population of Ward 1 who really does not want more 2 am licenses. They claim that the extra 2 hours of being opened cause exponential damage to their flower pots, and overall quality of life. Broadly, they are not all that interested in suggestions to enforce the laws (i.e. nuisance, vandalism) that already exist, or to recognize that parking reform could be a solution--since most people who urinate in flower pots do so on the way back to their illegally parked cars. They also tend to define fairness not necessarily as a level playing field for businesses, but as full disclosure of the unfairness at the time of inception of the business.
I tend to think of this as a squeaky wheel problem...the people who vigorously oppose this are also the people who come to meetings and are politically active. If you surveyed every citizen of Annapolis--not to mention the tourists on whom the city depends to create revenue--and more than 25% of those people opposed the 2 AM idea, I would do the unthinkable and let a Ward 1'er actually write a paragraph on this blog!
8:06
While various citizens debate with various Aldermen, let me take a moment to address a comment I received on my last post. The commenter suggests that blogging is so "passe", suggesting that I should "twitter" the proceedings of the meeting. I want to nip this idea in the but. For those of you that don't know, Twitter is a torture mechanism created by the Internet itself aimed at making obsolete the social networking site you just learned about, and making you feel inferior for not understanding what is a tool of only modest effectiveness.
The Internet has become self-aware, much like the robot in I Robot and the computer in War Games. First it created MySpace, which was replaced by Facebook due to the latter's ability to weed out creepy people. Sadly, Facebook actually requires people to mutually acknowledge that they are friends in real life before they can be friends on the web site. With Twitter, you can search for your favorite celebrity, non-celebrity, friend, victim, or other entity, then unilaterally sign up to "follow" that person, which allows you to receive 140-letter updates of what the person you are following is doing or thinking at any given time.
Twitter is useful in some circumstances, but one outlet for me to articulate my brain activity is more than adequate.
8:19
In my life, I have heard the words "Ward 1 Sector Study" just as many times as I have heard the words "would you like a lime in that", a correlation that highlights the measures a sane person must take to counteract the effect of political involvement.
8:28
Voting Time.
Shropshire moves to add CA-08-09, a new city manager charter amendment.
They are doing something regarding the new parking fees but it's not on the agenda and I can't hear what they're saying.
O-25-09: Requires the Public Works Department to establish and implement at 10-year water and sewer plan. PASSES 9-0.
O-32-09: Directs the order of voting for a roll call to be a "rotating sequence". FAILS 5-4 (I think...the PA system is too damn inaudible.) (voting no: Moyer, Israel, Cordle, Stankivic, Arnett).
Bills Passed on First Reader:
O-27-09: 2 AM licenses.
O-50-09: Lease of dock space for a sailboat race.
O-52-09: Rules for foreclosure properties.
R-56-09: Fines to accompany the foreclosure ordinance.
R-54-09: To declare September 2009 as "Family Day"! (Not a joke). Rules suspended. "Family Day" adopted on final reader.
There are some appointments and budget revisions that you may want to look at, perhaps particularly Carl Snowden to the HACA board.
September 28th meeting moved to October 5 because of Yom Kippur.
910: adjournment.
Monday, June 22, 2009
City Council Public Hearing 6/22/09: Live Blog
Due to family obligations, I typically can't attend city council meetings, or anything else that happens on Monday nights. I can watch meetings on television and blog the telecast, but you might realize that at that point I would be blogging from my living room with no interaction with the underlying events, and perpetuating a stereotype that the International Bloggers Association, Local 505 has been trying to fight for some time now.
Much like George Washington, I have stepped up in a time of need. Showing great heroism, I bring you--back by popular demand--a great post--the people's post--a live blog!
6:56
The VIP section is already full and there aren't any chairs for Tony Evans. Effect on entertainment: -6.
6:59
There are a lot of people here, and I suspect they are not going to talk about anything on the public hearing agenda (ten year water and sewerage plan, the comprehensive plan, and support for the MD theatre for performing arts at park place). The Annapolis Business Association has been publicizing tonight as a chance to speak on R-47-09, which is a bill on first reader tonight that proposes to delay the implementation of new parking fees until August 1. I have been put on rumor alert that there may be an attempt to "fast track" the bill tonight, whereas "fast track" is defined as suspending the rules and voting on a bill all 3 times without a public hearing as would normally be required by, umm, the rules.
7:02
Breaking News! A member of the VIP crow--one who is actually a Mayoral candidate--just blackmailed me! He wouldn't let me plug in my laptop unless I updated him on an upcoming announcement from TV "reality" couple John and Kate (plus 8). They are getting divorced.
7:08
8 Minutes late so far. Effect on Entertainment: -4. However, there are a whole lot of people here, so the possible entertainment value could be high.
7:17
Just started. Standing room only crowd. There is somebody here talking about reusable grocery bags, for reasons known only to Sam Shropshire and Walter Williams*.
(*Walter Williams knows everything).
7:21
The Mayor is making a point to tell everyone that there are 3 bills on the agenda for public hearing. This is important because she knows that EVERYONE is hear to talk about the parking fees, and she wants to let them know that they are out of order.
For the first bill on public hearing, O-25-09, nobody testifies.
7:22
Alderman Paone asked the Mayor to change the agenda to take parking fees, because he has sense. The Mayor refused, because she has power. Alderman Cordle seconded Alderman Paone's motion, and Alderman Paone's shoulders were tired (from carrying Alderman Cordle...get it!! Funny.)
7:24
Alderman Paone just referenced the "possible" suspension of rules that I talked about earlier. This is why Alderman Paone has a fan club and nobody else does. Actually, I think I created a fan club for 1 other person, but I will have to check the blog archives to see who it was.
7:27
Something just happened that represents everything that is wrong with the management of the city. Alderman Finlayson said "don't we have to operate under a balanced budget, meaning if we take away the parking fee money, don't we have to find another way to get the money?". A normal person might say "yes, just cut the freeking budget! we all have to sacrifice". Alderman Stankivic, however, said "we can do what we did in the past: ask the finance director to shimmy things down". ASK THE FINANCE DIRECTOR TO SHIMMY THINGS DOWN! THIS IS HOW CAREFULLY THEY ARE SPENDING YOUR MONEY.
7:31
Alderman Arnett: "I have not yet heard of a mechanism" to make up the money in the budget if we cut these fees.
7:34
The mayor just asked Bob Burden to review some parking law called "12-04" and come up with revisions to the law. Following suit, I called my mortgage broker and asked him to choose a color to paint my guest bedroom. Tomorrow I will call to tell him that I don't have a guest bedroom. I don't even like guests.
7:36
Mayor: "Certain city employees are like certain business employees and cannot park elsewhere...they are in and out, in and out." This is in reference to the point that nearly 200 spaces in the Hillman garage are taken up by (non-paying?) city employees, in addition to the monthly passes held by businesses (that pay for them).
7:41
It's hard for me to hear because (1) the PA system is not that good and (2) the VIP crowd in the back is mumbling things under our breaths as if we have a crystal ball and already know each and every correct course of action for the next 25 years.
7:43
Listening to the council (and listening to the person sitting next to me*, from whom I am about to steal this quote), the council ONLY CARES ABOUT THE MONEY. They could give two 'you-know-whats' about the affect on business.
(*not the same person that blackmailed me).
7:44
Ok, R-47-09 passed on first, second, and third readers with the following attributes:
1. an amendment saying they have to find another funding source OR cut spending to equal the money they are losing for delaying the fees one month.
2. WITHOUT public testimony.
3. WITH a suspension of the rules that prevents public testimony.
4. 9-0 unanimous vote.
Implementation of parking fees are delayed one month.
7:49
Back to public hearings, now concering the comprehensive plan (R-32-09).
Citizen: "expand Aris T Allen to 3 lanes and put a 3 lane traffic circle at Forest/Chinquapin Round Road."
Mayor: "Forest Dr. is a county road. We have no control."
Doug Smith: "Specific Goals: 1. relocate 30% of parking spaces off of city dock by 2013. 2. Find a possible tram route and acquisition of property in next 2 years."
Mayor: "For your information, this is already planned and looked at."
Me: "Specific goal number 3: create City Economist position and fill it with a qualified blogger/amateur economist".
(8:01)
Arnett just worked in a mention of the Rules Committee. Kudos for that.
McFall: "Reduce amount and density of development. Limit most buildings to 1-3 stories tall".
8:06
Alderman Paone has not said anything for a while. I suspect he is planning for a break-out moment. I am waiting for confirmation that Aldermen Hoyle and Finlayson have said anything all night....discretion is the better part of valor? Whatever. Also noteworthy, Alderman Sam has not yet addressed the viewing audience; tens of viewers remain neglected.
Alderman Stankivic (to McFall): "If I hear you correctly, we should not be considering the principles of smart growth?"
McFall: "nothing smart about level of development in the comp. plan".
Shropshire: just referenced 4.2 million tourists, but not the viewing public.
Citizen: "appalled at scale of development".
Wardour Improvement Association: "less density. limit of 3 stories tall in West Annapolis 'opportunity area'. no tall buildings on Rowe Blvd".
West Annapolis Civic Association: "my thunder was seriously stolen (by the Wardour guy)".
8:35
Whoops, Alderman Finlayson said something.
8:36
It's ok, it's ok...she meant to do it.
(still public hearing for comprehensive plan.)
Bowling: "What is the impact of growth on education?", "low density and short buildings on West St. gateway".
8:42
I just looked up a section of the city code for fun.
8:42:30
Halfway through I realized it was not as much fun as I had hoped.
Alderman Arnett just referenced the rules committee, again. Enough is enough.
Samaras: "Use Samaras property for mix of recreation, local business."
Liles Creighton: "one of the clearest comprehensive plans ever seen, if not agreed to."
Liles Creighton: "annex land on West St. and up Aris T. Allen Blvd."
Liles Creighton: "plan fails to recognize that city is part of a larger entity called Greater Annapolis"
Last Liles comment: smart.
LC: "forget rail transportation."
Alderman Shropshire: "During my college days, I worked in France for 4 summers and stayed in hostiles." 3 sentences later, Alderman Sam was talking about streetcars. Amazingly quick transition.
Mike Dye: "traffic affects me every day."
9:15
Shropshire (to Stankivic): "Let me talk, Can I talk?"
Stankivic: "You're talking"
Shropshire: "Well, cut the acting"
Funny.
(still a public hearing on the comp. plan)
Citizen: "you will not find a single citizen who wants 4 story buildings."
Shropshire: "We need more section 8 housing."
9:46
One citizen has been testifying for, probably, 30 minutes. I stopped paying attention after 12 seconds, and I do not apologize for that.
Cohen: "What if transit funding is not there?"
9:53
Alderman Cordle just stepped out. Is he leaving? If I'm still here, he'd better be here.
9:55
He's back.
Arnett: "Transportation is lynch pin of this comprehensive plan."
Shropshire: "County needs to lift the tax cap." He suggests that the county give the city money for transportation after lifting the cap.
The hearing for the comp plan is over! Now, hearing for R-33-09: Support of the Maryland Theatre for the Performing Arts at Park Place.
Bob Burdon: Yes.
Park Place Residents: Yes. "The theatre is the star attraction of the Park Place community."
Park Place Lawyer: Yes. "1200 seat facility will house all types of performances."
Scott Bowling: Yes.
Citizen: Yes.
Ok...I'm done with this hearing. I am leaving to go get some food.
Much like George Washington, I have stepped up in a time of need. Showing great heroism, I bring you--back by popular demand--a great post--the people's post--a live blog!
6:56
The VIP section is already full and there aren't any chairs for Tony Evans. Effect on entertainment: -6.
6:59
There are a lot of people here, and I suspect they are not going to talk about anything on the public hearing agenda (ten year water and sewerage plan, the comprehensive plan, and support for the MD theatre for performing arts at park place). The Annapolis Business Association has been publicizing tonight as a chance to speak on R-47-09, which is a bill on first reader tonight that proposes to delay the implementation of new parking fees until August 1. I have been put on rumor alert that there may be an attempt to "fast track" the bill tonight, whereas "fast track" is defined as suspending the rules and voting on a bill all 3 times without a public hearing as would normally be required by, umm, the rules.
7:02
Breaking News! A member of the VIP crow--one who is actually a Mayoral candidate--just blackmailed me! He wouldn't let me plug in my laptop unless I updated him on an upcoming announcement from TV "reality" couple John and Kate (plus 8). They are getting divorced.
7:08
8 Minutes late so far. Effect on Entertainment: -4. However, there are a whole lot of people here, so the possible entertainment value could be high.
7:17
Just started. Standing room only crowd. There is somebody here talking about reusable grocery bags, for reasons known only to Sam Shropshire and Walter Williams*.
(*Walter Williams knows everything).
7:21
The Mayor is making a point to tell everyone that there are 3 bills on the agenda for public hearing. This is important because she knows that EVERYONE is hear to talk about the parking fees, and she wants to let them know that they are out of order.
For the first bill on public hearing, O-25-09, nobody testifies.
7:22
Alderman Paone asked the Mayor to change the agenda to take parking fees, because he has sense. The Mayor refused, because she has power. Alderman Cordle seconded Alderman Paone's motion, and Alderman Paone's shoulders were tired (from carrying Alderman Cordle...get it!! Funny.)
7:24
Alderman Paone just referenced the "possible" suspension of rules that I talked about earlier. This is why Alderman Paone has a fan club and nobody else does. Actually, I think I created a fan club for 1 other person, but I will have to check the blog archives to see who it was.
7:27
Something just happened that represents everything that is wrong with the management of the city. Alderman Finlayson said "don't we have to operate under a balanced budget, meaning if we take away the parking fee money, don't we have to find another way to get the money?". A normal person might say "yes, just cut the freeking budget! we all have to sacrifice". Alderman Stankivic, however, said "we can do what we did in the past: ask the finance director to shimmy things down". ASK THE FINANCE DIRECTOR TO SHIMMY THINGS DOWN! THIS IS HOW CAREFULLY THEY ARE SPENDING YOUR MONEY.
7:31
Alderman Arnett: "I have not yet heard of a mechanism" to make up the money in the budget if we cut these fees.
7:34
The mayor just asked Bob Burden to review some parking law called "12-04" and come up with revisions to the law. Following suit, I called my mortgage broker and asked him to choose a color to paint my guest bedroom. Tomorrow I will call to tell him that I don't have a guest bedroom. I don't even like guests.
7:36
Mayor: "Certain city employees are like certain business employees and cannot park elsewhere...they are in and out, in and out." This is in reference to the point that nearly 200 spaces in the Hillman garage are taken up by (non-paying?) city employees, in addition to the monthly passes held by businesses (that pay for them).
7:41
It's hard for me to hear because (1) the PA system is not that good and (2) the VIP crowd in the back is mumbling things under our breaths as if we have a crystal ball and already know each and every correct course of action for the next 25 years.
7:43
Listening to the council (and listening to the person sitting next to me*, from whom I am about to steal this quote), the council ONLY CARES ABOUT THE MONEY. They could give two 'you-know-whats' about the affect on business.
(*not the same person that blackmailed me).
7:44
Ok, R-47-09 passed on first, second, and third readers with the following attributes:
1. an amendment saying they have to find another funding source OR cut spending to equal the money they are losing for delaying the fees one month.
2. WITHOUT public testimony.
3. WITH a suspension of the rules that prevents public testimony.
4. 9-0 unanimous vote.
Implementation of parking fees are delayed one month.
7:49
Back to public hearings, now concering the comprehensive plan (R-32-09).
Citizen: "expand Aris T Allen to 3 lanes and put a 3 lane traffic circle at Forest/Chinquapin Round Road."
Mayor: "Forest Dr. is a county road. We have no control."
Doug Smith: "Specific Goals: 1. relocate 30% of parking spaces off of city dock by 2013. 2. Find a possible tram route and acquisition of property in next 2 years."
Mayor: "For your information, this is already planned and looked at."
Me: "Specific goal number 3: create City Economist position and fill it with a qualified blogger/amateur economist".
(8:01)
Arnett just worked in a mention of the Rules Committee. Kudos for that.
McFall: "Reduce amount and density of development. Limit most buildings to 1-3 stories tall".
8:06
Alderman Paone has not said anything for a while. I suspect he is planning for a break-out moment. I am waiting for confirmation that Aldermen Hoyle and Finlayson have said anything all night....discretion is the better part of valor? Whatever. Also noteworthy, Alderman Sam has not yet addressed the viewing audience; tens of viewers remain neglected.
Alderman Stankivic (to McFall): "If I hear you correctly, we should not be considering the principles of smart growth?"
McFall: "nothing smart about level of development in the comp. plan".
Shropshire: just referenced 4.2 million tourists, but not the viewing public.
Citizen: "appalled at scale of development".
Wardour Improvement Association: "less density. limit of 3 stories tall in West Annapolis 'opportunity area'. no tall buildings on Rowe Blvd".
West Annapolis Civic Association: "my thunder was seriously stolen (by the Wardour guy)".
8:35
Whoops, Alderman Finlayson said something.
8:36
It's ok, it's ok...she meant to do it.
(still public hearing for comprehensive plan.)
Bowling: "What is the impact of growth on education?", "low density and short buildings on West St. gateway".
8:42
I just looked up a section of the city code for fun.
8:42:30
Halfway through I realized it was not as much fun as I had hoped.
Alderman Arnett just referenced the rules committee, again. Enough is enough.
Samaras: "Use Samaras property for mix of recreation, local business."
Liles Creighton: "one of the clearest comprehensive plans ever seen, if not agreed to."
Liles Creighton: "annex land on West St. and up Aris T. Allen Blvd."
Liles Creighton: "plan fails to recognize that city is part of a larger entity called Greater Annapolis"
Last Liles comment: smart.
LC: "forget rail transportation."
Alderman Shropshire: "During my college days, I worked in France for 4 summers and stayed in hostiles." 3 sentences later, Alderman Sam was talking about streetcars. Amazingly quick transition.
Mike Dye: "traffic affects me every day."
9:15
Shropshire (to Stankivic): "Let me talk, Can I talk?"
Stankivic: "You're talking"
Shropshire: "Well, cut the acting"
Funny.
(still a public hearing on the comp. plan)
Citizen: "you will not find a single citizen who wants 4 story buildings."
Shropshire: "We need more section 8 housing."
9:46
One citizen has been testifying for, probably, 30 minutes. I stopped paying attention after 12 seconds, and I do not apologize for that.
Cohen: "What if transit funding is not there?"
9:53
Alderman Cordle just stepped out. Is he leaving? If I'm still here, he'd better be here.
9:55
He's back.
Arnett: "Transportation is lynch pin of this comprehensive plan."
Shropshire: "County needs to lift the tax cap." He suggests that the county give the city money for transportation after lifting the cap.
The hearing for the comp plan is over! Now, hearing for R-33-09: Support of the Maryland Theatre for the Performing Arts at Park Place.
Bob Burdon: Yes.
Park Place Residents: Yes. "The theatre is the star attraction of the Park Place community."
Park Place Lawyer: Yes. "1200 seat facility will house all types of performances."
Scott Bowling: Yes.
Citizen: Yes.
Ok...I'm done with this hearing. I am leaving to go get some food.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Public Hearing 2/23/09: Live Blog
Here again, all is well.
Welcome to the bi-monthly live blog of the exiting municipal proceedings of the Annapolis City Government. As always, anybody correctly guessing the ending time of the meeting is entitled to a complimentary sandwich prepared by one of my minions from the catering conglomerate that bought the computer I am typing with right now.
The call of capitalism was extra loud and extra early today, but I had an emergency cup of coffee late in the afternoon and some frosted mini-wheats (no milk) while I was driving over here, so I should have enough energy to see this post through, provided we aren't here past 11 pm.
7:06
We are starting and all the Aldermen are here. No nonsense, and we are in to public testimony right away.
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
CA-01-09: Technical Correction Charter Amendment.
-nobody testified
O-02-09: Technical Amendments to City Election Code.
-nobody testified
O-43-08: Business Community Identification Sign in Non-Residential Zoning Districts.
-I don't know what a "business community identification sign" is.
-Apparently it's an unofficial title that a group of businesses may want to bestow upon themselves, such as the "Annapolis Design District" as suggested by the person testifying now. This would theoretically attract people to the area. The bill would allow these signs.
-The planning commission recommends against the ordinance for a lack of specificity and because we already have sign laws. Arnett doesn't like the bill because it changes the laws of the whole city to benefit one specific ward and in fact just a few specific businesses.
-I've reached my 7 minute maximum of paying attention to the City Sign Code so I will not be paying attention again until the next bill comes up.
7:37
Update: they are still talking about signs. I am making revisions to menus. You can contact the city clerk to find out what they were talking about.
7:45
Ok, we're back.
O-01-09: Notification of BPA by Retailers
-This bill was dead but now it's back in a different form.
-Pro-business lobbyists are lobbying against the bill because it would negatively affect sales and is a pain in the ass to comply with. The Mayor is arguing with these lobbyists because she likes to argue, and perhaps because of other reasons.
-Alderman Arnett just referenced the surgeon general.
(Update #2: the following Alderman have not said anything yet at all today: Israel, Cordle, Stankivic, Shropshire.)
-Chemist: "consensus about safety of BPA", plus FDA is currently assessing the situation so let them finish
-Canada: "the general public need not be worried (about BPA)....it does not pose a health risk"
-Arnett: what the rest of the world thinks doesn't matter because we have different consumption patterns than them
-Chemist: consumption patterns are close enough
-Blogger (passionately): report referenced by the city says that there isn't any data for what BPA would do to humans, and city doesn't have the resources or expertise to figure out what the data might be, plus there are a lot of things that are dangerous and we don't require signs for those, plus it's not the city's job to warn people about this.
8:26
O-07-09: Compensation of Mayor and Aldermen
-bill would increase mayoral pay by 70% and aldermanic pay by 50%
-aldermanic candidate: "strong opposition", "out of touch with current economic climate", "pure and simple economic irresponsibility"
-Cordle: "public service should not be penalized"
-It's somewhat stunning that many people are taking the position that $70,000 can't put food on the table. It might not buy you the life you want, but that's a decent living. That being said, I think these people need to make more money. If there isn't a city manager, the city administrator should be eliminated and the mayor should make $120,000 because that position would be doing everything. A major reason for supporting the city manager proposal is that by hiring a professional manager, you can make sure that your $120,000 buys someone qualified. But since the council killed that proposal, here we are.
-Most arguments about this are political, such as "they don't deserve this", or "this isn't the right time to be giving a raise of this amount". But the fact is, the pay won't be adjusted again for 4 years, and this recession will (knock on wood) be a distant memory at that point. The elected positions are underpaid now, even given the assumption that all elected positions will be underpaid in relation to the private market. And not only does the new compensation have to make up for the positions being underpaid, it has to cover a 4 year period, as it won't be raised each year.
-Arnett: "never a good time" for increases in elected official pay
-There seems to be some sensible discussion about having incremental increases (pre approved).
-There is a logical argument against the bill that we do not have a problem with recruiting, therefore we do not need to move along the demand curve (offer a bigger salary) to attract more people. The caveat would be that we are more likely to attract a qualified candidate if the offer is for more money.
-The mayor is quick to emphasize that the commission recommending a $120,000 mayoral salary was making a value recommendation, whereas the council clearly must make a political decision.
-Finlayson: "we need to stop thinking of paying our Mayor and Aldermen as something dirty or foul"
9:23
Alderman Sam just referred to his own quote in the newspaper, but this does not fulfill his quota of addressing the viewing public on television.
9:25
Alderman Paone just called out Alderman Sam for "BEGGING" the compensation committee to double his pay, then denying it in front of this television audience! Incredible! I mean Alderman Paone is really laying into him. Perhaps most impressive is how Alderman Paone worked in the viewing audience before Alderman Sam did!! "You are saying something 180 degrees different than what you said at that meeting"!! Tune in to the TV broadcast right now because my hands are tired and I can explain the drama that is going on.
9:30
Shout out to all my old homeboys in ward 5.
-Israel: we should be taking this up along with the budget process.
9:46
-The chairman of the compensation committee just said that she knows that there were people waiting to announce their candidacy for mayor because they were waiting to see how much it would pay.
We are about to start some voting.
R-60-08: Waiving $210,000 in permit fees for the Lighthouse Shelter. Amended to waiving only $123,000. PASSES 7-2 (Cordle, Stankivic)
O-08-09: Lease of City Property To Cricket Communications (allows a cell phone tower on the top of a water tank for 5 years for $42,000, it would appear): PASSES ON FIRST READER.
R-14-09: Requesting That The School Board Continue To Let Us Use Their Schools For Elections. PASSES ON FIRST READER, THEN RULES SUSPENDED AND PASSED FOR REAL. 9-0.
Meeting adjourns at 10:35.
Welcome to the bi-monthly live blog of the exiting municipal proceedings of the Annapolis City Government. As always, anybody correctly guessing the ending time of the meeting is entitled to a complimentary sandwich prepared by one of my minions from the catering conglomerate that bought the computer I am typing with right now.
The call of capitalism was extra loud and extra early today, but I had an emergency cup of coffee late in the afternoon and some frosted mini-wheats (no milk) while I was driving over here, so I should have enough energy to see this post through, provided we aren't here past 11 pm.
7:06
We are starting and all the Aldermen are here. No nonsense, and we are in to public testimony right away.
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
CA-01-09: Technical Correction Charter Amendment.
-nobody testified
O-02-09: Technical Amendments to City Election Code.
-nobody testified
O-43-08: Business Community Identification Sign in Non-Residential Zoning Districts.
-I don't know what a "business community identification sign" is.
-Apparently it's an unofficial title that a group of businesses may want to bestow upon themselves, such as the "Annapolis Design District" as suggested by the person testifying now. This would theoretically attract people to the area. The bill would allow these signs.
-The planning commission recommends against the ordinance for a lack of specificity and because we already have sign laws. Arnett doesn't like the bill because it changes the laws of the whole city to benefit one specific ward and in fact just a few specific businesses.
-I've reached my 7 minute maximum of paying attention to the City Sign Code so I will not be paying attention again until the next bill comes up.
7:37
Update: they are still talking about signs. I am making revisions to menus. You can contact the city clerk to find out what they were talking about.
7:45
Ok, we're back.
O-01-09: Notification of BPA by Retailers
-This bill was dead but now it's back in a different form.
-Pro-business lobbyists are lobbying against the bill because it would negatively affect sales and is a pain in the ass to comply with. The Mayor is arguing with these lobbyists because she likes to argue, and perhaps because of other reasons.
-Alderman Arnett just referenced the surgeon general.
(Update #2: the following Alderman have not said anything yet at all today: Israel, Cordle, Stankivic, Shropshire.)
-Chemist: "consensus about safety of BPA", plus FDA is currently assessing the situation so let them finish
-Canada: "the general public need not be worried (about BPA)....it does not pose a health risk"
-Arnett: what the rest of the world thinks doesn't matter because we have different consumption patterns than them
-Chemist: consumption patterns are close enough
-Blogger (passionately): report referenced by the city says that there isn't any data for what BPA would do to humans, and city doesn't have the resources or expertise to figure out what the data might be, plus there are a lot of things that are dangerous and we don't require signs for those, plus it's not the city's job to warn people about this.
8:26
O-07-09: Compensation of Mayor and Aldermen
-bill would increase mayoral pay by 70% and aldermanic pay by 50%
-aldermanic candidate: "strong opposition", "out of touch with current economic climate", "pure and simple economic irresponsibility"
-Cordle: "public service should not be penalized"
-It's somewhat stunning that many people are taking the position that $70,000 can't put food on the table. It might not buy you the life you want, but that's a decent living. That being said, I think these people need to make more money. If there isn't a city manager, the city administrator should be eliminated and the mayor should make $120,000 because that position would be doing everything. A major reason for supporting the city manager proposal is that by hiring a professional manager, you can make sure that your $120,000 buys someone qualified. But since the council killed that proposal, here we are.
-Most arguments about this are political, such as "they don't deserve this", or "this isn't the right time to be giving a raise of this amount". But the fact is, the pay won't be adjusted again for 4 years, and this recession will (knock on wood) be a distant memory at that point. The elected positions are underpaid now, even given the assumption that all elected positions will be underpaid in relation to the private market. And not only does the new compensation have to make up for the positions being underpaid, it has to cover a 4 year period, as it won't be raised each year.
-Arnett: "never a good time" for increases in elected official pay
-There seems to be some sensible discussion about having incremental increases (pre approved).
-There is a logical argument against the bill that we do not have a problem with recruiting, therefore we do not need to move along the demand curve (offer a bigger salary) to attract more people. The caveat would be that we are more likely to attract a qualified candidate if the offer is for more money.
-The mayor is quick to emphasize that the commission recommending a $120,000 mayoral salary was making a value recommendation, whereas the council clearly must make a political decision.
-Finlayson: "we need to stop thinking of paying our Mayor and Aldermen as something dirty or foul"
9:23
Alderman Sam just referred to his own quote in the newspaper, but this does not fulfill his quota of addressing the viewing public on television.
9:25
Alderman Paone just called out Alderman Sam for "BEGGING" the compensation committee to double his pay, then denying it in front of this television audience! Incredible! I mean Alderman Paone is really laying into him. Perhaps most impressive is how Alderman Paone worked in the viewing audience before Alderman Sam did!! "You are saying something 180 degrees different than what you said at that meeting"!! Tune in to the TV broadcast right now because my hands are tired and I can explain the drama that is going on.
9:30
Shout out to all my old homeboys in ward 5.
-Israel: we should be taking this up along with the budget process.
9:46
-The chairman of the compensation committee just said that she knows that there were people waiting to announce their candidacy for mayor because they were waiting to see how much it would pay.
We are about to start some voting.
R-60-08: Waiving $210,000 in permit fees for the Lighthouse Shelter. Amended to waiving only $123,000. PASSES 7-2 (Cordle, Stankivic)
O-08-09: Lease of City Property To Cricket Communications (allows a cell phone tower on the top of a water tank for 5 years for $42,000, it would appear): PASSES ON FIRST READER.
R-14-09: Requesting That The School Board Continue To Let Us Use Their Schools For Elections. PASSES ON FIRST READER, THEN RULES SUSPENDED AND PASSED FOR REAL. 9-0.
Meeting adjourns at 10:35.
Monday, February 9, 2009
City Council Meeting 2/9/09: Live Blog
Greetings and salutations. The pre-meeting festivities tonight began with the city elevator getting stuck while carrying the Mayor, the City Clerk, and myself, and continues now with a presentation of the history of this city hall building. Early hopes are for a quick meeting tonight, so anybody looking to win a pulled pork sandwich by guessing the correct time of the meeting's end should guess accordingly.
7:10
I have learned that the people giving the presentation about the building are actually part of the company that has been hired to fix the building. You may remember that parts of the council chambers actually fell from the ceiling some time ago. You may also remember the air conditioning fiasco.
7:30
Don't worry, we aren't starting on time. Just a heads up, we are scheduled to have a vote on the city manager tonight.
7:38
Ok, now we're starting. Everyone is here.
7:41
We are now in committee reports, the time of the meeting when I check my email.
7:43
Alderman Shropshire just "invited the public" to do something, which is not the same as addressing the viewing public on television, for those scoring at home.
7:48
No new emails. (I answered most of them on my Blackberry.)
8:01
The chair of the compensation committee reports that the "modest and incremental approach to compensation taken by the last committee has led to an erosion of the mayor's salary in constant dollars and may have contributed to salary inequities."
8:16
The compensation committee is still speaking. They are currently offering testimony on what I would consider the fringe of the purview of "compensation", just now suggesting that Aldermen should have access to meeting spaces, the right to purchase city health care, and the ability to hire interns.
8:24
The mayor suggests that the compensation committee recommendations reflect a 'value standard' of pay, as opposed to the political considerations of voting pay raises for elected officials, appropriately putting into perspective the dilemma attached to paying yourself with other people's money.
8:30
Scheduled for a vote tonight is a bill that would exempt the Lighthouse Shelter from paying permits on some new construction they are doing, in an amount north of $200,000 I think. There is a Lighthouse rep here appealing for its passage, probably because the idea was met with ample negativity during public hearing.
8:50
VOTING TIME!
CA-04-08: City Manager (The Better One)
Ok, it looks like the Aldermen are going to speak their minds before the actual vote happens. Paone says that his generation hated Nixon, but never contemplated changing the national government. Sounds like a negative vote from him upcoming. He acknowledged himself as being the "swing" vote on this measure, and seems to be pre-justifying what he is apparently about to do. He is also suggesting a the lobbying effort from both sides on him, and his disappointment that both sides were so entrenched on their views before public hearings that such rhetoric as the Magna Carta or the Declaration of Independence would not have swayed their viewpoint. He is expressing his loneliness at being the only person listening to both sides, only to be accused of waffling! "I did what I'm paid to do".
Alderman Paone is laying groundwork to suggest that a change of such magnitude should obtain the consent of the people through referendum, and seems unwilling to cast his vote in favor without that direct approval of the citizenry, which we won't get without quite a concerted effort. Looks like this bill is going down.
For those of you who may be watching, or not, there is an embarrassment of parliamentary procedure going on right now. What happened was there was a vote to end debate and call the question (meaning proceed to the vote on the bill), which passed. So, the bill was now on the table. The mayor asked for votes, there were several "yes" votes, and zero "no" votes. After that, they all said "what are we voting for", ignoring the fact that they had just voted the bill into law. But, they deliberated a while, and effectively voted again.
Here is the roll call:
Moyer: NO
Israel: YES
Paone: NO
Hoyle: NO
Finlayson: NO
Cordle: N0
Stankivic: YES
Shropshire:YES
Arnett:YES
CA 04-09 FAILS.
Now the other one, CA-06. This really wouldn't change that much. And it FAILS.
O-39-08: Later Closing Hours For Wine Bars In The MX Zone: PASSES 6-2 (Stankivic and Shropshire, Hoyle abstains.)
O-48-08: Temporary Parking Changes On Maryland Ave and Hanover St.: PASSES (I missed the roll call).
R-60-08: Wavier Of Fees For Lighhouse Shelter: POSTPONED.
R-62-08: Authorizing The Negotiation of a PILOT For Admiral Oaks: PASSES 6-3 (Paone, Stankivic, Shropshire).
R-04-09: Environmental Compliance Inspector: PASSES 8-1 (Stankvic)
FIRST READER PASSAGES:
O-04-09: Sandwich Board Signs
O-05-09: Invasive Plants
O-06-09: False Alarms
R-10-09: Fines For False Alarms
O-07-09: Compensation of Mayor And Aldermen
R-11-09: First Sundays 2009
R-12-09: March Madness Sidewalk Sale
R-13-09: Support of a Federal Carbon Tax and Dividend
Meeting ends at.......9:39 (ish).
7:10
I have learned that the people giving the presentation about the building are actually part of the company that has been hired to fix the building. You may remember that parts of the council chambers actually fell from the ceiling some time ago. You may also remember the air conditioning fiasco.
7:30
Don't worry, we aren't starting on time. Just a heads up, we are scheduled to have a vote on the city manager tonight.
7:38
Ok, now we're starting. Everyone is here.
7:41
We are now in committee reports, the time of the meeting when I check my email.
7:43
Alderman Shropshire just "invited the public" to do something, which is not the same as addressing the viewing public on television, for those scoring at home.
7:48
No new emails. (I answered most of them on my Blackberry.)
8:01
The chair of the compensation committee reports that the "modest and incremental approach to compensation taken by the last committee has led to an erosion of the mayor's salary in constant dollars and may have contributed to salary inequities."
8:16
The compensation committee is still speaking. They are currently offering testimony on what I would consider the fringe of the purview of "compensation", just now suggesting that Aldermen should have access to meeting spaces, the right to purchase city health care, and the ability to hire interns.
8:24
The mayor suggests that the compensation committee recommendations reflect a 'value standard' of pay, as opposed to the political considerations of voting pay raises for elected officials, appropriately putting into perspective the dilemma attached to paying yourself with other people's money.
8:30
Scheduled for a vote tonight is a bill that would exempt the Lighthouse Shelter from paying permits on some new construction they are doing, in an amount north of $200,000 I think. There is a Lighthouse rep here appealing for its passage, probably because the idea was met with ample negativity during public hearing.
8:50
VOTING TIME!
CA-04-08: City Manager (The Better One)
Ok, it looks like the Aldermen are going to speak their minds before the actual vote happens. Paone says that his generation hated Nixon, but never contemplated changing the national government. Sounds like a negative vote from him upcoming. He acknowledged himself as being the "swing" vote on this measure, and seems to be pre-justifying what he is apparently about to do. He is also suggesting a the lobbying effort from both sides on him, and his disappointment that both sides were so entrenched on their views before public hearings that such rhetoric as the Magna Carta or the Declaration of Independence would not have swayed their viewpoint. He is expressing his loneliness at being the only person listening to both sides, only to be accused of waffling! "I did what I'm paid to do".
Alderman Paone is laying groundwork to suggest that a change of such magnitude should obtain the consent of the people through referendum, and seems unwilling to cast his vote in favor without that direct approval of the citizenry, which we won't get without quite a concerted effort. Looks like this bill is going down.
For those of you who may be watching, or not, there is an embarrassment of parliamentary procedure going on right now. What happened was there was a vote to end debate and call the question (meaning proceed to the vote on the bill), which passed. So, the bill was now on the table. The mayor asked for votes, there were several "yes" votes, and zero "no" votes. After that, they all said "what are we voting for", ignoring the fact that they had just voted the bill into law. But, they deliberated a while, and effectively voted again.
Here is the roll call:
Moyer: NO
Israel: YES
Paone: NO
Hoyle: NO
Finlayson: NO
Cordle: N0
Stankivic: YES
Shropshire:YES
Arnett:YES
CA 04-09 FAILS.
Now the other one, CA-06. This really wouldn't change that much. And it FAILS.
O-39-08: Later Closing Hours For Wine Bars In The MX Zone: PASSES 6-2 (Stankivic and Shropshire, Hoyle abstains.)
O-48-08: Temporary Parking Changes On Maryland Ave and Hanover St.: PASSES (I missed the roll call).
R-60-08: Wavier Of Fees For Lighhouse Shelter: POSTPONED.
R-62-08: Authorizing The Negotiation of a PILOT For Admiral Oaks: PASSES 6-3 (Paone, Stankivic, Shropshire).
R-04-09: Environmental Compliance Inspector: PASSES 8-1 (Stankvic)
FIRST READER PASSAGES:
O-04-09: Sandwich Board Signs
O-05-09: Invasive Plants
O-06-09: False Alarms
R-10-09: Fines For False Alarms
O-07-09: Compensation of Mayor And Aldermen
R-11-09: First Sundays 2009
R-12-09: March Madness Sidewalk Sale
R-13-09: Support of a Federal Carbon Tax and Dividend
Meeting ends at.......9:39 (ish).
Monday, January 12, 2009
City Council Meeting 1/12/09: Live Blog
Welcome to the first live blog of 2009! I have immediately exploited my VIP contacts, learning that the boat show lease is due to be given without at least one of the parties being heard by the economic matters committee. The agenda for today's meeting confirms that the bills containing the underlying leases have not been given a recommendation by committee, a process that usually takes place prior to a bill receiving a final vote.
Also, I asked Tony Evans what he thought about Aldermanic term limits, and he said "We have term limits--they are called elections." I laughed*.
(*With political humor, you have to take what you can get.)
7:27
Pretty sparse attendance tonight. The mayor and Alderman Paone just walked in together, and both are wearing light blue shirts. I like to think they met for an afternoon tea and coordinated their attire.
All the Alderman are here, as is the city attorney, having recently regained his certification.
7:33
Attendance has picked up a bit. Amongst the audience are a baby and a dog, prompting a race between the Republican and Democrat Central Committees to get new voter registrations.
While I have a chance, allow me to introduce a new game. Anybody correctly guessing the ending time (to the minute) of a city council meeting will receive a complimentary tray of pulled pork bbq from my restaurant! Additionally, anybody correctly guessing the amount of next year's budget (within $20,000) will win a fully catered party!
7:39
The dogs in the audience are actually fire department dogs, and each of them won first place in one of the past 2 years (respectively) in a fire dog competition in Florida. We witnessed a demonstration where one of the dogs found and removed a tennis ball from a floor grate, an act that certainly must have been approved by city engineers so as not to damage the structural integrity of City Hall.
7:50
The Mayor announced that the city settled a lawsuit against it regarding Moreland Parkway. Basically, Moreland Pkwy was a road that nobody wanted to take responsibility for, and potholes would happen all the time because neither the city, nor the county, nor any private interests maintained the road. I remember one day where one of the business owners from that street stood in the middle of the road in protest, and I imagine that the lawsuit was soon to follow. The Mayor informs us that, as a result of the settlement, the city is taking title to the street, and has to pay $60,000 to somebody--implicitly to make up for the fact that they were wrong in the matter.
7:55
Alderman Israel, on behalf of the rules committee, has endorsed the consideration and juxtaposition of two city manager bills before the council: CA-5 and CA-6. (The better one is CA-5). He recommends quick action, so if the voters want to try and petition the matter to a referendum, they can do so before the election.
On a side note, the committees are actually reporting today, which is in stark contrast to the norm, where they say when they are meeting next, and why the last meeting was cancelled.
7:57
I have been informed by a blog follower that Alderman Sam announced his candidacy for Mayor on Facebook today, and plans to announce formally at the City Dock on Friday. Sadly, I cannot confirm this because Alderman Sam and I are not Facebook Friends, but I am inclined to endorse this supposition on the grounds that (1) he is ambitious and (2) it comes with more money and power than Ward 7 Alderman.
8:04
It's time for the public to speak (out of turn). Doug Smith wants an expanded discussion and debate on the city manager issue. On a related note, I wonder how many worthwhile ideas are killed because of excessive red tape, prolonged unproductive discussion, etc., resulting in the people who originally came up with the idea to say 'screw it' because they don't feel like dealing with this anymore**.
(**This very process was the manner in which I finally secured Mrs. Politics' phone number.)
8:14
Tony Evans is speaking, and just said that he is training a Rottweiler to sniff out fiscal irresponsibility amongst politicians. Earlier tonight (and this is true), after asking me about my my New Year's celebrations, informed me that he had two blind dates on New Year's Eve. He denies that they were on the same eve, but I think he is being modest. Oh, and he is making good points as well.
8:19
I believe that there is a sewer pipe broken somewhere around here. Decorum prevents a written description of the evidence that has led me to this belief.
8:29
I have received 2 guesses for the guess-the-end-time-of-the-meeting-and-win-pulled-pork-game. The first guess, submitted via blog comment, is for 9:54. The second guess comes in the form of a secret ballot, and is for 8:42--a time that soon may vanish considering the public is still gallivanting around the speaking podium and the council has yet to vote on anything.
8:48
And now to the business of legislating. Alderman Arnett has added R-03-09 even though it was not on the agenda. This is harmless and potentially useful. Alderman Paone throws in a 'no' vote on first reader, likely for comic purposes.
CA-01-01: Technical Correction of A Previsouly Repealed Charter Amendment: first reader passage.
O-02-09: Technical Amendments to City Election Code: first reader passage.
CA-02-09: Aldermanic Term Limits:
Omg Alderman Hoyle just went off! She outed Cordle's run for mayor (even though he's out), then admonished Stankivic for singling her out. "I guess I should take it as a compliment from my Alderwoman across the room that I'm doing such a good job", declared Hoyle in a statement that was somewhat confusing considering the point she wanted to make. Corlde says that he has not officially declared for Mayor, so it could affect him too. Ooohhh it FAILS ON FIRST READER! INCREDIBLE! The vote:
Moyer: No
Israel: Yes
Paone: Yes
Hoyle: No
Finlayson: No
Cordle: No
Stankivic: Yes
Shropshire: No
Arnett: Yes
Stankivic vows it will go to referendum! High drama!
8:56
O-27-08: Requirements Applicable to the Expansion of Certain Residential Uses in the Waterfront Mixed Maritime and Waterfront Maritime Eastport Zoning Districts: PASSES. 9-0 vote.
O-28-08: Posting of Property When Required Under the Zoning Code: PASSES. 9-0 vote.
O-30-08: Clarifying Duties of Department of Neighborhood and Environmental Programs and Public Works Administration. --amendments--. This bill has a sprinkler requirement in there, which is sparking a lot of debate. Depending on how the amendments go, you will have to install a sprinkler system if you do a renovation affecting either 50% or 25% of either your living space or your home's market value. If I'm honest, I haven't been paying attention because (1) I have been doing some capitalism-related personal activities and (2) I live in a tree house that has neither running water nor market value. PASSES. 9-0 vote.
9:17
The motion to postpone the bill fails, despite the fact that it has not come out of committee. Voting for postponement were Israel, Stankivic, and Arnett, and the rest want to do it tonight. Arnett's stance is that they can decide who gets the lease tonight, but they should reserve the right to change what's in the lease because both lease proposals leave the city exposed to risk.
9:30
Alderman Paone just asked the city attorney some questions about the potential boat show leases. He didn't respond verbally, but made a face resembling a contestant on Fear Factor who has just been asked to take a bath with scorpions. He then declared that he can't comment at this time.
Alderman Hoyle has arbitrarily become very animated, and appears to want to decide (at least) who gets the lease, tonight.
Sam and Julie are about to bicker. Note to readers: Sam and Julie are not first graders arguing over the pink hula-hoop, they are on the city council.
9:34
Alderman Sam has not yet addressed the television viewing public, but I think I speak for Trudy McFall and myself when I say that we are not going anywhere until he gives us something to look forward to when we review the telecast of this meeting on our DVR's tomorrow morning.
Ok, the lease is given to the person who currently holds it: Ed Hartman and United States Sailboat/Powerboat Shows. The legal manifestation of this was a 6-3 vote passing O-35-08. Voting 'no' (i.e. for City Dock Productions) were Israel, Stankivic, and Arnett. This is sad news, in my estimation. O-36-08 is consequently voted down.
9:45
O-38-08: Residential and Commercial Recycling. --amendments--. PASSES. 9-0 vote.
O-01-09: Notification of (the chemical) BPA by Retailers (again?): first reader passage.
R-49-08: Job Description and Pay Grade for Hispanic Community Liason. PASSES. 8-1 vote (Stankivic).
R-50-08: Job Description and Pay Grade for Police External Affairs Officer. --amendments--PASSES. 9-0 vote.
R-60-08: Waiver of Fees for the light House Homeless Prevention Support Center. Alderman Hoyle sees this as "every person making a contribution to this cause", ignoring the fact that it is more accurately the government compelling the citizens to make a contribution without express consent. I suppose this is the result of the representative government process, but Hoyle's attitude is nonetheless noteworthy.
The finance committee has not heard this matter (which amounts to over $200,000), and Alderman Israel found the law that says the finance committee must hear the matter. The mayor wants to ignore the law and is still calling for a motion. Alderman Hoyle, the finance committee chair, says she doesn't know why they have to do this because it wouldn't matter what they think. How about this...it doesn't matter what she thinks because it is the law. Therefore, this bill is POSTPONED as a matter of law and not the result of a vote.
R-02-09: Honoring the Late Barbara Neustadt. PASSES (on all 3 readers after suspension of rules). 8-0 vote. (Stankivic abstains.)
R-04-09: Job Description and Pay Grade for Environmental Compliance Inspector. first reader passage.
R-05-09: Redevelopment of Obery Court Public Housing. first reader passage.
R-03-09: Review of City Property Leases: first reader passage.
There is an appointment and some civil service board minutes, neither of which I have seen.
10:25: Adjournment. Nobody wins the game.
Also, I asked Tony Evans what he thought about Aldermanic term limits, and he said "We have term limits--they are called elections." I laughed*.
(*With political humor, you have to take what you can get.)
7:27
Pretty sparse attendance tonight. The mayor and Alderman Paone just walked in together, and both are wearing light blue shirts. I like to think they met for an afternoon tea and coordinated their attire.
All the Alderman are here, as is the city attorney, having recently regained his certification.
7:33
Attendance has picked up a bit. Amongst the audience are a baby and a dog, prompting a race between the Republican and Democrat Central Committees to get new voter registrations.
While I have a chance, allow me to introduce a new game. Anybody correctly guessing the ending time (to the minute) of a city council meeting will receive a complimentary tray of pulled pork bbq from my restaurant! Additionally, anybody correctly guessing the amount of next year's budget (within $20,000) will win a fully catered party!
7:39
The dogs in the audience are actually fire department dogs, and each of them won first place in one of the past 2 years (respectively) in a fire dog competition in Florida. We witnessed a demonstration where one of the dogs found and removed a tennis ball from a floor grate, an act that certainly must have been approved by city engineers so as not to damage the structural integrity of City Hall.
7:50
The Mayor announced that the city settled a lawsuit against it regarding Moreland Parkway. Basically, Moreland Pkwy was a road that nobody wanted to take responsibility for, and potholes would happen all the time because neither the city, nor the county, nor any private interests maintained the road. I remember one day where one of the business owners from that street stood in the middle of the road in protest, and I imagine that the lawsuit was soon to follow. The Mayor informs us that, as a result of the settlement, the city is taking title to the street, and has to pay $60,000 to somebody--implicitly to make up for the fact that they were wrong in the matter.
7:55
Alderman Israel, on behalf of the rules committee, has endorsed the consideration and juxtaposition of two city manager bills before the council: CA-5 and CA-6. (The better one is CA-5). He recommends quick action, so if the voters want to try and petition the matter to a referendum, they can do so before the election.
On a side note, the committees are actually reporting today, which is in stark contrast to the norm, where they say when they are meeting next, and why the last meeting was cancelled.
7:57
I have been informed by a blog follower that Alderman Sam announced his candidacy for Mayor on Facebook today, and plans to announce formally at the City Dock on Friday. Sadly, I cannot confirm this because Alderman Sam and I are not Facebook Friends, but I am inclined to endorse this supposition on the grounds that (1) he is ambitious and (2) it comes with more money and power than Ward 7 Alderman.
8:04
It's time for the public to speak (out of turn). Doug Smith wants an expanded discussion and debate on the city manager issue. On a related note, I wonder how many worthwhile ideas are killed because of excessive red tape, prolonged unproductive discussion, etc., resulting in the people who originally came up with the idea to say 'screw it' because they don't feel like dealing with this anymore**.
(**This very process was the manner in which I finally secured Mrs. Politics' phone number.)
8:14
Tony Evans is speaking, and just said that he is training a Rottweiler to sniff out fiscal irresponsibility amongst politicians. Earlier tonight (and this is true), after asking me about my my New Year's celebrations, informed me that he had two blind dates on New Year's Eve. He denies that they were on the same eve, but I think he is being modest. Oh, and he is making good points as well.
8:19
I believe that there is a sewer pipe broken somewhere around here. Decorum prevents a written description of the evidence that has led me to this belief.
8:29
I have received 2 guesses for the guess-the-end-time-of-the-meeting-and-win-pulled-pork-game. The first guess, submitted via blog comment, is for 9:54. The second guess comes in the form of a secret ballot, and is for 8:42--a time that soon may vanish considering the public is still gallivanting around the speaking podium and the council has yet to vote on anything.
8:48
And now to the business of legislating. Alderman Arnett has added R-03-09 even though it was not on the agenda. This is harmless and potentially useful. Alderman Paone throws in a 'no' vote on first reader, likely for comic purposes.
CA-01-01: Technical Correction of A Previsouly Repealed Charter Amendment: first reader passage.
O-02-09: Technical Amendments to City Election Code: first reader passage.
CA-02-09: Aldermanic Term Limits:
Omg Alderman Hoyle just went off! She outed Cordle's run for mayor (even though he's out), then admonished Stankivic for singling her out. "I guess I should take it as a compliment from my Alderwoman across the room that I'm doing such a good job", declared Hoyle in a statement that was somewhat confusing considering the point she wanted to make. Corlde says that he has not officially declared for Mayor, so it could affect him too. Ooohhh it FAILS ON FIRST READER! INCREDIBLE! The vote:
Moyer: No
Israel: Yes
Paone: Yes
Hoyle: No
Finlayson: No
Cordle: No
Stankivic: Yes
Shropshire: No
Arnett: Yes
Stankivic vows it will go to referendum! High drama!
8:56
O-27-08: Requirements Applicable to the Expansion of Certain Residential Uses in the Waterfront Mixed Maritime and Waterfront Maritime Eastport Zoning Districts: PASSES. 9-0 vote.
O-28-08: Posting of Property When Required Under the Zoning Code: PASSES. 9-0 vote.
O-30-08: Clarifying Duties of Department of Neighborhood and Environmental Programs and Public Works Administration. --amendments--. This bill has a sprinkler requirement in there, which is sparking a lot of debate. Depending on how the amendments go, you will have to install a sprinkler system if you do a renovation affecting either 50% or 25% of either your living space or your home's market value. If I'm honest, I haven't been paying attention because (1) I have been doing some capitalism-related personal activities and (2) I live in a tree house that has neither running water nor market value. PASSES. 9-0 vote.
9:17
The motion to postpone the bill fails, despite the fact that it has not come out of committee. Voting for postponement were Israel, Stankivic, and Arnett, and the rest want to do it tonight. Arnett's stance is that they can decide who gets the lease tonight, but they should reserve the right to change what's in the lease because both lease proposals leave the city exposed to risk.
9:30
Alderman Paone just asked the city attorney some questions about the potential boat show leases. He didn't respond verbally, but made a face resembling a contestant on Fear Factor who has just been asked to take a bath with scorpions. He then declared that he can't comment at this time.
Alderman Hoyle has arbitrarily become very animated, and appears to want to decide (at least) who gets the lease, tonight.
Sam and Julie are about to bicker. Note to readers: Sam and Julie are not first graders arguing over the pink hula-hoop, they are on the city council.
9:34
Alderman Sam has not yet addressed the television viewing public, but I think I speak for Trudy McFall and myself when I say that we are not going anywhere until he gives us something to look forward to when we review the telecast of this meeting on our DVR's tomorrow morning.
Ok, the lease is given to the person who currently holds it: Ed Hartman and United States Sailboat/Powerboat Shows. The legal manifestation of this was a 6-3 vote passing O-35-08. Voting 'no' (i.e. for City Dock Productions) were Israel, Stankivic, and Arnett. This is sad news, in my estimation. O-36-08 is consequently voted down.
9:45
O-38-08: Residential and Commercial Recycling. --amendments--. PASSES. 9-0 vote.
O-01-09: Notification of (the chemical) BPA by Retailers (again?): first reader passage.
R-49-08: Job Description and Pay Grade for Hispanic Community Liason. PASSES. 8-1 vote (Stankivic).
R-50-08: Job Description and Pay Grade for Police External Affairs Officer. --amendments--PASSES. 9-0 vote.
R-60-08: Waiver of Fees for the light House Homeless Prevention Support Center. Alderman Hoyle sees this as "every person making a contribution to this cause", ignoring the fact that it is more accurately the government compelling the citizens to make a contribution without express consent. I suppose this is the result of the representative government process, but Hoyle's attitude is nonetheless noteworthy.
The finance committee has not heard this matter (which amounts to over $200,000), and Alderman Israel found the law that says the finance committee must hear the matter. The mayor wants to ignore the law and is still calling for a motion. Alderman Hoyle, the finance committee chair, says she doesn't know why they have to do this because it wouldn't matter what they think. How about this...it doesn't matter what she thinks because it is the law. Therefore, this bill is POSTPONED as a matter of law and not the result of a vote.
R-02-09: Honoring the Late Barbara Neustadt. PASSES (on all 3 readers after suspension of rules). 8-0 vote. (Stankivic abstains.)
R-04-09: Job Description and Pay Grade for Environmental Compliance Inspector. first reader passage.
R-05-09: Redevelopment of Obery Court Public Housing. first reader passage.
R-03-09: Review of City Property Leases: first reader passage.
There is an appointment and some civil service board minutes, neither of which I have seen.
10:25: Adjournment. Nobody wins the game.
Monday, December 8, 2008
City Council Meeting 12/8: Live Blog
My computer was recently attacked by a virus (probably a Democrat virus) that corrupted all of my hard drive beyond the point of repair. Cleverly, I was one step ahead of the attack and had backed up all of my files, which are now recovered. I did have to re-install my operating system, but that was a blessing in disguise! I got rid of all the useless programs, and can pick and choose which functions to bring back. Come to think of it, I am now an advocate of "computer-virus-style government reform".
7:26
The people arriving early to the meeting are greeted by a troop of bongo players, a drumming noise that is only equalled once a year when the Maritime Republic of Eastport brings their kids and their flags and everyone wishes they lived in Stevensville.
Today's meeting is a legislative meeting, which means that it starts at 7:30 instead of 7:00. All other distinctions between this and the 'public hearing' meeting have been frayed beyond recognition.
The Mayor is not here, but fear not, the brave Alderman Hoyle is the acting Mayor for tonight.
7:34
We are going to play a new game today. You can send to gillgrilling@hotmail.com your guesses for what time Alderman Shropshire will first address the masses watching on TV. The person who gets the time the closest to the correct time will receive a hidden camera and tape recorder, compliments of the blogger's guild.
7:38
Last meeting, I wore myself out. I'll admit it. None of that today! I am going to write what happens, along with anything funny that I think of. The rest of the time, I will surveying the VIP crowd for any insider information, and deciding what to have for dinner tonight.
7:42
The bongo players are here for a bailout, citing the dual facts that they are located in the above mentioned MRE and they will have to shut down if they don't get some city money.
7:43
Alderman Finlayson just addressed the people watching on television! Call Parker Bros.....we need more games....
7:44
There are more city manager bills than spyware on my computer. Fortunately, there is a chance that one or more of those will be voted down (and go away) today. If that happens, I'll eat a steak sandwich for dinner.
7:46
We now move into committee reports, which is the time during the meeting when the Aldermen promise that they are working hard even when they are not on TV, and inform the curious public when their various committees are meeting next, and/or why their various committees are postponing their next scheduled meeting. If you are lucky, you may also learn of a 'closed committee meeting; about legal matters, and that you cannot learn anymore about said meeting.
7:51
The Mayor is on her way, we have learned. Alderman Hoyle is not a speedy agenda reader, we have further learned. You learn something every day!
7:56
My main man Arthur came up to speak, informed us that he had 3 things to speak about, then informed us that he would be prioritizing these 3 things in the order: 1, 3, 2. He went on to tell a story, apparently in all seriousness, of how the APD broke into his house, dragged him outside with only one shoe on, took him to the hospital, drugged him heavily, then sent him to the psych ward--all while ignoring his recitation of a 1776 document on warrants. My God. His final statement: "I'm off to Salvation Army work in the midwest".
8:04
Tony Evans is speaking, which is pleasant, and he notes some important deficiencies in the renewal lease for the downtown Farmers Market (the lease is up for renewal on first reader). Alderman Paone, with the approval of Alderman Stankivic, points out that we might want to charge the market rent at least in the equivalent amount that would be taken by the parking meters that would otherwise be in operation at that location. Alderman Israel is piling on, noting that we now have a financial record of their first operating year and can identify if rent would be appropriate, particularly if (since) FreshFarm is a for-profit company.
8:07
Oops, Alderman Arnett just said that they are a non-profit company. He also just said that while looking through the boat show lease, they found that the boat shows have control of city property from May-November! Geez. Previous posts on this blog have suggested that the current boat-show fight is partly attributable to a desire from the Hartman conglomerate to control the city dock, and that lease would support that theory.
8:09
A member of the VIP crowd is setting Alderwoman Hoyle up for something regarding a closed meeting of the finance committee, which she chairs. She responds that this is not a time for interrogation. I sense something brewing. I will do some investigating.
8:14
Alderman Cordle just went on record as supporting a referendum on the city manager bills, suggesting that maybe they should repeal the bills until 'the public has spoken'. Political translation: he wants to delay decreasing the power of the mayor until he has a chance to be elected mayor.
8:15
Approximately 30% of the people here are going to run for mayor next year.
8:16
Ok, voting.
CA-01-08: The first city manager charter amendment. POSTPONED. (sigh)
CA-04-08: The next city manager charter amendment. POSTPONED. (another sigh).
CA-05-08: The next city manager charter amendment. PASSES. (first reader only).
CA-06-08: The next city manager charter amendment. PASSES. (first reader only).
8:20
O-33-08. See HERE for info. (energy policy). PASSES 7-1 (Stankivic).
R-36-08. Expanding Renewable Engergy. (motion to postpone fails). 6-1 (Cordle voted no, Stankivic abstained).
O-37-08. Appointment to Art In Public Places Commission. PASSES. 7-1 (Stankivic).
O-44-08: Protected Classes Subject To Fair Housing Requirements. PASSES on first reader.
O-45-08: Reclassifying the paralegal position to Civil Service. PASSES on first reader but only by a 6-2 vote (normally all bills are passed on first reader out of political courtesy and referred to committee, but Stankivic tried to kill it right away. Arnett was the other 'nay').
O-46-08: FreshFarm Farmers Market Lease. PASSES on first reader.
R-60-08: Wavier of Fees for Light House Shelter. PASSES on first reader.
7:26
The people arriving early to the meeting are greeted by a troop of bongo players, a drumming noise that is only equalled once a year when the Maritime Republic of Eastport brings their kids and their flags and everyone wishes they lived in Stevensville.
Today's meeting is a legislative meeting, which means that it starts at 7:30 instead of 7:00. All other distinctions between this and the 'public hearing' meeting have been frayed beyond recognition.
The Mayor is not here, but fear not, the brave Alderman Hoyle is the acting Mayor for tonight.
7:34
We are going to play a new game today. You can send to gillgrilling@hotmail.com your guesses for what time Alderman Shropshire will first address the masses watching on TV. The person who gets the time the closest to the correct time will receive a hidden camera and tape recorder, compliments of the blogger's guild.
7:38
Last meeting, I wore myself out. I'll admit it. None of that today! I am going to write what happens, along with anything funny that I think of. The rest of the time, I will surveying the VIP crowd for any insider information, and deciding what to have for dinner tonight.
7:42
The bongo players are here for a bailout, citing the dual facts that they are located in the above mentioned MRE and they will have to shut down if they don't get some city money.
7:43
Alderman Finlayson just addressed the people watching on television! Call Parker Bros.....we need more games....
7:44
There are more city manager bills than spyware on my computer. Fortunately, there is a chance that one or more of those will be voted down (and go away) today. If that happens, I'll eat a steak sandwich for dinner.
7:46
We now move into committee reports, which is the time during the meeting when the Aldermen promise that they are working hard even when they are not on TV, and inform the curious public when their various committees are meeting next, and/or why their various committees are postponing their next scheduled meeting. If you are lucky, you may also learn of a 'closed committee meeting; about legal matters, and that you cannot learn anymore about said meeting.
7:51
The Mayor is on her way, we have learned. Alderman Hoyle is not a speedy agenda reader, we have further learned. You learn something every day!
7:56
My main man Arthur came up to speak, informed us that he had 3 things to speak about, then informed us that he would be prioritizing these 3 things in the order: 1, 3, 2. He went on to tell a story, apparently in all seriousness, of how the APD broke into his house, dragged him outside with only one shoe on, took him to the hospital, drugged him heavily, then sent him to the psych ward--all while ignoring his recitation of a 1776 document on warrants. My God. His final statement: "I'm off to Salvation Army work in the midwest".
8:04
Tony Evans is speaking, which is pleasant, and he notes some important deficiencies in the renewal lease for the downtown Farmers Market (the lease is up for renewal on first reader). Alderman Paone, with the approval of Alderman Stankivic, points out that we might want to charge the market rent at least in the equivalent amount that would be taken by the parking meters that would otherwise be in operation at that location. Alderman Israel is piling on, noting that we now have a financial record of their first operating year and can identify if rent would be appropriate, particularly if (since) FreshFarm is a for-profit company.
8:07
Oops, Alderman Arnett just said that they are a non-profit company. He also just said that while looking through the boat show lease, they found that the boat shows have control of city property from May-November! Geez. Previous posts on this blog have suggested that the current boat-show fight is partly attributable to a desire from the Hartman conglomerate to control the city dock, and that lease would support that theory.
8:09
A member of the VIP crowd is setting Alderwoman Hoyle up for something regarding a closed meeting of the finance committee, which she chairs. She responds that this is not a time for interrogation. I sense something brewing. I will do some investigating.
8:14
Alderman Cordle just went on record as supporting a referendum on the city manager bills, suggesting that maybe they should repeal the bills until 'the public has spoken'. Political translation: he wants to delay decreasing the power of the mayor until he has a chance to be elected mayor.
8:15
Approximately 30% of the people here are going to run for mayor next year.
8:16
Ok, voting.
CA-01-08: The first city manager charter amendment. POSTPONED. (sigh)
CA-04-08: The next city manager charter amendment. POSTPONED. (another sigh).
CA-05-08: The next city manager charter amendment. PASSES. (first reader only).
CA-06-08: The next city manager charter amendment. PASSES. (first reader only).
8:20
O-33-08. See HERE for info. (energy policy). PASSES 7-1 (Stankivic).
R-36-08. Expanding Renewable Engergy. (motion to postpone fails). 6-1 (Cordle voted no, Stankivic abstained).
O-37-08. Appointment to Art In Public Places Commission. PASSES. 7-1 (Stankivic).
O-44-08: Protected Classes Subject To Fair Housing Requirements. PASSES on first reader.
O-45-08: Reclassifying the paralegal position to Civil Service. PASSES on first reader but only by a 6-2 vote (normally all bills are passed on first reader out of political courtesy and referred to committee, but Stankivic tried to kill it right away. Arnett was the other 'nay').
O-46-08: FreshFarm Farmers Market Lease. PASSES on first reader.
R-60-08: Wavier of Fees for Light House Shelter. PASSES on first reader.
8:31
Meeting is over, without Alderman Sam addressing the television audience. I guess I'm skipping dinner tonight.
Monday, November 24, 2008
City Council Meeting 11/24: Live Blog
I'm here!
This is a public hearing, and man is it public. There are untold numbers of persons here to speak about the city manager stuff, and Ed Hartman has assembled an impressive stock of supporters for the lease giving him the rights to the boat show. I shoved my way to the front of the line, and was able to obtain my normal VIP seat with borrowed internet access, so here we are.
I can't see a darn thing, which is good, because it also means that anybody watching on tv cannot see the soy sauce stain that soiled my sweatshirt in the line of duty today. Mrs. Politics is at a Tina Turner concert, so you, the faithful readers, are all my dates tonight!
7:18
The public hearings are starting. The mayor has adopted the strategy of hearing the bills that nobody is here for first, so we are starting with O-38 (updating the recycling code). Tony Evans supports it. Also, Tony Evans supports a sense of humor, as he is sitting next to me and told me a funny joke no more than 4 minutes ago that made me chuckle out loud.
7:21
O-40-08: Lawn Fertilizer Regulation in the city. A man claiming he is the only person affected by the bill is testifying against it, because it will prevent him from even carrying fertilizer. He says the city should wait for the county and/or state to pass it. But, he supports an amendment that extends the process, I think. Tony Evans just stood up, so this guy might be in trouble.
7:23
Alderman Shropshire is addressing the masses, and just commended the above mentioned guy for.............getting rid of plastic bags. Then he just made a claim that was not true and the guy corrected him.
7:24
Tony Evans argument: "condoms and pornos are above the counter, but we can't display fertilizer?" Good argument.
7:26
R-62-07: Supporting the state-funded redevelopment of the Annapolis Gardens and Bowman Ct. housing projects. Eric Brown (the HACA pres.) is here supporting this, and is talking now. I have been informed that HACA is getting out of the property management business, and the private companies that are going to develop and manage the property are here with Mr. Brown. The housing authority would have the land, but not much responsibility, as I understand it. Even though the city's money is not on the hook, the state requires local support as part of their approval process.
Mr. Brown indicates that the CIQ (Cash In Question) here is around $20 million.
7:30
A big shout out to all my peeps reading this live feed, probably in posh, climate controlled, couch-filled abodes--the exact opposite of the conditions here.
7:32
The R-62 people are still making their case, which is probably a bit frivolous, because I don't expect many of the Aldermen to throw up any road blocks. In any case, it gives me some time to work on a proposal for an upcoming catering event that I have, for which the CIQ is only like 1000 bucks.
7:33
Alderman Hoyle asks if we will lose any public housing units in this process, probably a fair question for people who are concerned with such issues. Answer: of 144 units being redeveloped, 6 will change from public housing to home-ownership opportunities. Also, if the state $$ doesn't cover the project, the developer will have to cover the shortage, and not Annapolis taxpayers.
7:37
Alderman Israel calls the idea of a public-private partnership an "experimental approach", perhaps suggesting that he supports public housing funded entirely by the taxpayer. He says that he would not be inclined to support any arrangement like this for the duration of his tenure on the council. I must say that I am surprised at his position.
7:38
The council doesn't seem to understand that the city has no financial obligation here--they just need to approve the idea in principle so the developer can get state money. As you might have discerned by now, the ownership and management responsibility for public housing is very confusing which is probably why nobody can figure out a good way to address the problems.
7:43
Boat show public hearings!! See my boat show post to understand the bills in question (O-35 and O-36). I have no idea how I am going to describe what are these people have to say.
I don't think that counting the number of people in support of each bill would be a fair representation of how many people (if given all the information) would be in support of each applicant. I can predict that more people here are in support of Ed Hartman.
7:47
The mayor suggests that she would entertain other bidders for the boat show, inviting "anybody else who might have a contract like this should come to the hearing". (Note: that is not an exact quote).
7:49
So far, the Dowling/Barthold crew (O-36) have had their supporters up first. Dowling is telling his story, which has not been told publicly (other than on this blog) before, and if you are watching on TV, pay attention because you might learn why much of the VIP crowd back here is supporting the D/B bid.
7:58
The first Hartman supporter says that changing the shows might be troublesome because international participants might be spooked. "If it ain't broke...", etc. His implicit claim is that the show is not broken, a claim that would be argued by the other lease applicants.
(By the way, "H" stands for Hartman and "D/B" stands for Dowling and Barthold.)
8:00
Ed Hartman is speaking right now, and claims that D/B are avoiding personal responsibility by creating a corporation, which is not really a critique because this is a common practice of people starting a business. I have Limited Liability Companies, but rest assured that it's my ass on the line if those corporations go bust. H is arguing that, even though he has a corporation too, his has a history and a financial background. He is positioning for the argument that his company is more financially equipped to handle the shows than the investors that D/B have put together. He is taking a long time to do what I just said in that last sentence.
8:04
Right now H is giving a visual presentation, complete with a laser pointer. The presentation is basically a laundry list of all the expensive S that has to be purchased to run the boat show. Again, this is simply an attempt to somehow show that D/B cannot afford this equipment, unless he is going somewhere that I don't anticipate.
(By the way, "S" stands for what you think it stands for.)
8:07
H got to his point, that he brings $4.4 million to the show. Not quite a logical argument, but he just asked the people in the audience that support him to raise their hand, and like everyone raised their hands. As someone promised me earlier, H puts on a good show.
8:08
H just made the "business needs continuity" argument, an argument that I have made in some of my economic development posts.
(Note to amateur bloggers: see how I just took a seemingly unrelated issue and used it to support an argument that I believe in? That's good stuff.)
H just said that he proposed and extra year on his lease (until 2014) because "my employees are asking me if they are going to have a job in 5 years...they are looking for a career", failing to establish the link between their careers and the requisite implicit approval from the taxpayers.
8:12
I was also alerted that H has the support of the 'Good Old Boy Sailing Crew', of Arnie Gay, Bert Jabin, Knut Aarsand (don't quote me on that one), and others. So far, so true--Rod Jabin is here in support. The implication was that a sense of entitlement has developed amongst people who feel they have created the sailing business in this city, an implication that I am too young and too landlocked to indulge further.
8:19
The H people are continuing the accusation that D/B are a "limited liability shell", where as the H corporation is not because it has declared assets. They also are hitting on the argument that the shows are not broken.
8:24
Alderman Israel's 4 factors for determining who gets the lease:
1. rent
2. financial backing
3. experience
4. management plan
He just said (not in so many words), "What are we going to do when Mr. Hartman dies"? He used the item #4 on his list to address this issue. To his credit, the H guy is answering well, saying that there is a good team in place that knows what to do.
There is also a bit of a side argument, in that the H corporation does other things, like wine festivals and the like. One side of the argument implies that it favors H, as they gain expertise, but the opposition says it favors D/B, because they are not distracted.
8:27
Alderman Paone points out the D/B were part of the team that the H guy just mentioned. B is now speaking, and the room is respectfully devoting their entire attention to paying attention.
8:31
I confused the start time of this meeting and didn't realize my error until like 20 minutes before the meeting started, and tragically I was prevented from having dinner or even coffee in preparation for this feat of blogging endurance. I hope some of these boat show people leave soon, because it's getting hot in here, and for reasons named above, I am cranky.
8:33
The boat show hearing is over. We will take a recess. Predicted time for restart: 8:42.
8:44
Back in business. 2 minutes off with my prediction. Time for the city manager parade. There are like infinity bills pertaining to city manager, or purporting to pertain to city manager, so I'm just going to cite certain points, I think.
8:49
On second thought, I am not going to pay much attention to the people testifying. Instead, I will now launch into a soliloquy as to where we are at this point.
The city manager idea was considered and rejected in Annapolis some time ago. In the past couple of years, the idea is gaining steam again. The idea is that city managers can manage operations, and elected people can make policy decisions. Right now, the mayor of Annapolis can do everything.
Probably in part because of the disappointment with the current mayor, the idea is being pushed by notable factions, namely Wards 1 and 8. The politics behind the idea is intriguing. Most aldermen who want to stay aldermen support it, because it would give them more power and more evenly divide power. The current Mayor opposes the idea, for reasons unknown, but probably related to the belief that the Mayor is important and should have the power. The Aldermen that want to run for Mayor, ignoring the ethical problem of voting for their future self-interest, also oppose the idea because they want to have that power when they get elected! In fact, I have heard that Cordle doesn't want to run for Mayor if City Manager Legislation passes. Josh Cohen seems to have a similar feeling, without having formally declared he is running for mayor!
The jumble of city manager legislation is the result of efforts from any number of politicians to support their positions. One of the bills is closest to the real city manager form of government, and others simply 'put lipstick on pigs' by changing a few words and calling it a city manager. In my estimation, a real city manager is defined as one who is hired/fired by a majority vote of the council, and is the operational manager of city employees, with the instruction to carry out the policy of the council. Whichever bill ends up getting closest to that is the one that I will support.
9:02
Alderman Shropshire just complained that a city manager would prevent him from going to a department head and telling them to do something for his ward. I guess that's what city employees do, but that just sounded weird to me.
9:04
A demand is made that the city manager issue be put to referendum, alluding to the oddity that is the city's failure to have all Charter Amendments go to a referendum. The only referendum procedure is through voter signatures on a petition.
9:08
Alderman Cordle just spoke for what I estimate to be the first time tonight, and he gave a mini campaign speech. I guarantee you that before the end of the night, Alderman Sam will one-up him with an inspirational speech of his own. I look forward to it, as well as the Polish sausage dinner that Alderman Sam has been promising me for some time now.
9:15
Note to readers: people are still talking about city managers.
9:15:20
Note to readers: I am still hungry, so if you have any Polish Sausage, put it in a reusable container and I will pick it up on my way home.
9:28
Josh Cohen is speaking about the philosophy of city managers. You'll remember that he is against, and the other Aldermen are challenging him a bit because they are more expert than him at this point in term regarding the specific terms of the legislation. Plus you learn in city council 101 to never miss an opportunity to challenge your county councilman when he has to debate in your forum.
9:34
Don't fall asleep or do anything fun! Keep reading because the council is scheduled to vote on the homestead credit tonight, which means lowering property taxes, which means you getting more money, which is hopefully important to you.
9:54
The mayor must be more bored than the rest of us, because she just left. Now Alderman Arnett is sitting in the important chair. FYI, Alderman Paone left like 20 minutes ago.
10:03
Ok, I did some snooping around, and found out that Alderman Paone is still here. Also, early word on the Homestead Credit bills is that the 102% (2%) bill is going down, but that Alderman Arnett is the swing vote on the 105% (5%) bill.
10:16
Alderman Sam gave the inspirational speech I was waiting for. "I wasn't elected by the people of Ward 7 to vote only on the easy issues".
10:18
Attendance Update:
Paone: here
Moyer: here
Cordle: just returned.
10:27
It's fair to say that most people here tonight support the "real" city manager idea that I described above. Nonetheless, people are still talking about it.
10:59
Alderman Sam addresses the people watching on TV! Yes!! Like clockwork.
The public hearing for a city manager ends.
There is a 6-3 vote to suspend the rules and consider f'ing legislation past 11:00.
11:01
Classie Hoyle just made the odd comment that there are like 6 potential mayors in the room, and that they should learn to ride in convertibles and wave because they are about to lose the power that the mayor has been privileged to have. That is weird.
The mayor just said you can reduce the homestead credit and reduce the tax rate if need be, but we have been the only jurisdiction to reduce the rate. It really doesn't matter. High popalorum or low popahirum.
Legislation:
O-31-08: 105% Homestead. POSTPONED. 5-4 vote to postpone (Israel, Paone, Cordle, Stankivic). The aldermen are actually really fighting about this and calling each other out. Alderman Paone, in particular, is on the warpath and called out the 5 people that voted to table this, calling them the same people responsible for the budget increases and higher taxes. "The present budget has more fat in it than a weight watchers convention", he said word for word.
O-32-08: City of Annapolis Exempt Service: PASSES. 6-3. (Paone, Cordle, Stankivic)
O-34-08: 102% Homestead: POSTPONED. (see above)
R-62-07: Support For Redevelopment of Public Housing: PASSES. 8-1. (Stankivic)
R-46-08: Reclassification of Transportation Positions: PASSES. 5-4. (Paone, Cordle, Stankivic, Arnett)
R-47-08: Stanton Center Recreation Manager: ?
R-48-08: Dance and Fitness Coordinator: ?.
R-49-08: Hispanic Community Liaison: ?.
R-50-08: Police External Affairs Officer: ?
R-58-08: Excepting Parking Fees At Park Place: ?.
R-59-08: Economic Affairs Advisory Commission: ?.
I had to leave because I couldn't take it anymore. I will try and call the city clerk to see if the rest of that stuff passed.
This is a public hearing, and man is it public. There are untold numbers of persons here to speak about the city manager stuff, and Ed Hartman has assembled an impressive stock of supporters for the lease giving him the rights to the boat show. I shoved my way to the front of the line, and was able to obtain my normal VIP seat with borrowed internet access, so here we are.
I can't see a darn thing, which is good, because it also means that anybody watching on tv cannot see the soy sauce stain that soiled my sweatshirt in the line of duty today. Mrs. Politics is at a Tina Turner concert, so you, the faithful readers, are all my dates tonight!
7:18
The public hearings are starting. The mayor has adopted the strategy of hearing the bills that nobody is here for first, so we are starting with O-38 (updating the recycling code). Tony Evans supports it. Also, Tony Evans supports a sense of humor, as he is sitting next to me and told me a funny joke no more than 4 minutes ago that made me chuckle out loud.
7:21
O-40-08: Lawn Fertilizer Regulation in the city. A man claiming he is the only person affected by the bill is testifying against it, because it will prevent him from even carrying fertilizer. He says the city should wait for the county and/or state to pass it. But, he supports an amendment that extends the process, I think. Tony Evans just stood up, so this guy might be in trouble.
7:23
Alderman Shropshire is addressing the masses, and just commended the above mentioned guy for.............getting rid of plastic bags. Then he just made a claim that was not true and the guy corrected him.
7:24
Tony Evans argument: "condoms and pornos are above the counter, but we can't display fertilizer?" Good argument.
7:26
R-62-07: Supporting the state-funded redevelopment of the Annapolis Gardens and Bowman Ct. housing projects. Eric Brown (the HACA pres.) is here supporting this, and is talking now. I have been informed that HACA is getting out of the property management business, and the private companies that are going to develop and manage the property are here with Mr. Brown. The housing authority would have the land, but not much responsibility, as I understand it. Even though the city's money is not on the hook, the state requires local support as part of their approval process.
Mr. Brown indicates that the CIQ (Cash In Question) here is around $20 million.
7:30
A big shout out to all my peeps reading this live feed, probably in posh, climate controlled, couch-filled abodes--the exact opposite of the conditions here.
7:32
The R-62 people are still making their case, which is probably a bit frivolous, because I don't expect many of the Aldermen to throw up any road blocks. In any case, it gives me some time to work on a proposal for an upcoming catering event that I have, for which the CIQ is only like 1000 bucks.
7:33
Alderman Hoyle asks if we will lose any public housing units in this process, probably a fair question for people who are concerned with such issues. Answer: of 144 units being redeveloped, 6 will change from public housing to home-ownership opportunities. Also, if the state $$ doesn't cover the project, the developer will have to cover the shortage, and not Annapolis taxpayers.
7:37
Alderman Israel calls the idea of a public-private partnership an "experimental approach", perhaps suggesting that he supports public housing funded entirely by the taxpayer. He says that he would not be inclined to support any arrangement like this for the duration of his tenure on the council. I must say that I am surprised at his position.
7:38
The council doesn't seem to understand that the city has no financial obligation here--they just need to approve the idea in principle so the developer can get state money. As you might have discerned by now, the ownership and management responsibility for public housing is very confusing which is probably why nobody can figure out a good way to address the problems.
7:43
Boat show public hearings!! See my boat show post to understand the bills in question (O-35 and O-36). I have no idea how I am going to describe what are these people have to say.
I don't think that counting the number of people in support of each bill would be a fair representation of how many people (if given all the information) would be in support of each applicant. I can predict that more people here are in support of Ed Hartman.
7:47
The mayor suggests that she would entertain other bidders for the boat show, inviting "anybody else who might have a contract like this should come to the hearing". (Note: that is not an exact quote).
7:49
So far, the Dowling/Barthold crew (O-36) have had their supporters up first. Dowling is telling his story, which has not been told publicly (other than on this blog) before, and if you are watching on TV, pay attention because you might learn why much of the VIP crowd back here is supporting the D/B bid.
7:58
The first Hartman supporter says that changing the shows might be troublesome because international participants might be spooked. "If it ain't broke...", etc. His implicit claim is that the show is not broken, a claim that would be argued by the other lease applicants.
(By the way, "H" stands for Hartman and "D/B" stands for Dowling and Barthold.)
8:00
Ed Hartman is speaking right now, and claims that D/B are avoiding personal responsibility by creating a corporation, which is not really a critique because this is a common practice of people starting a business. I have Limited Liability Companies, but rest assured that it's my ass on the line if those corporations go bust. H is arguing that, even though he has a corporation too, his has a history and a financial background. He is positioning for the argument that his company is more financially equipped to handle the shows than the investors that D/B have put together. He is taking a long time to do what I just said in that last sentence.
8:04
Right now H is giving a visual presentation, complete with a laser pointer. The presentation is basically a laundry list of all the expensive S that has to be purchased to run the boat show. Again, this is simply an attempt to somehow show that D/B cannot afford this equipment, unless he is going somewhere that I don't anticipate.
(By the way, "S" stands for what you think it stands for.)
8:07
H got to his point, that he brings $4.4 million to the show. Not quite a logical argument, but he just asked the people in the audience that support him to raise their hand, and like everyone raised their hands. As someone promised me earlier, H puts on a good show.
8:08
H just made the "business needs continuity" argument, an argument that I have made in some of my economic development posts.
(Note to amateur bloggers: see how I just took a seemingly unrelated issue and used it to support an argument that I believe in? That's good stuff.)
H just said that he proposed and extra year on his lease (until 2014) because "my employees are asking me if they are going to have a job in 5 years...they are looking for a career", failing to establish the link between their careers and the requisite implicit approval from the taxpayers.
8:12
I was also alerted that H has the support of the 'Good Old Boy Sailing Crew', of Arnie Gay, Bert Jabin, Knut Aarsand (don't quote me on that one), and others. So far, so true--Rod Jabin is here in support. The implication was that a sense of entitlement has developed amongst people who feel they have created the sailing business in this city, an implication that I am too young and too landlocked to indulge further.
8:19
The H people are continuing the accusation that D/B are a "limited liability shell", where as the H corporation is not because it has declared assets. They also are hitting on the argument that the shows are not broken.
8:24
Alderman Israel's 4 factors for determining who gets the lease:
1. rent
2. financial backing
3. experience
4. management plan
He just said (not in so many words), "What are we going to do when Mr. Hartman dies"? He used the item #4 on his list to address this issue. To his credit, the H guy is answering well, saying that there is a good team in place that knows what to do.
There is also a bit of a side argument, in that the H corporation does other things, like wine festivals and the like. One side of the argument implies that it favors H, as they gain expertise, but the opposition says it favors D/B, because they are not distracted.
8:27
Alderman Paone points out the D/B were part of the team that the H guy just mentioned. B is now speaking, and the room is respectfully devoting their entire attention to paying attention.
8:31
I confused the start time of this meeting and didn't realize my error until like 20 minutes before the meeting started, and tragically I was prevented from having dinner or even coffee in preparation for this feat of blogging endurance. I hope some of these boat show people leave soon, because it's getting hot in here, and for reasons named above, I am cranky.
8:33
The boat show hearing is over. We will take a recess. Predicted time for restart: 8:42.
8:44
Back in business. 2 minutes off with my prediction. Time for the city manager parade. There are like infinity bills pertaining to city manager, or purporting to pertain to city manager, so I'm just going to cite certain points, I think.
8:49
On second thought, I am not going to pay much attention to the people testifying. Instead, I will now launch into a soliloquy as to where we are at this point.
The city manager idea was considered and rejected in Annapolis some time ago. In the past couple of years, the idea is gaining steam again. The idea is that city managers can manage operations, and elected people can make policy decisions. Right now, the mayor of Annapolis can do everything.
Probably in part because of the disappointment with the current mayor, the idea is being pushed by notable factions, namely Wards 1 and 8. The politics behind the idea is intriguing. Most aldermen who want to stay aldermen support it, because it would give them more power and more evenly divide power. The current Mayor opposes the idea, for reasons unknown, but probably related to the belief that the Mayor is important and should have the power. The Aldermen that want to run for Mayor, ignoring the ethical problem of voting for their future self-interest, also oppose the idea because they want to have that power when they get elected! In fact, I have heard that Cordle doesn't want to run for Mayor if City Manager Legislation passes. Josh Cohen seems to have a similar feeling, without having formally declared he is running for mayor!
The jumble of city manager legislation is the result of efforts from any number of politicians to support their positions. One of the bills is closest to the real city manager form of government, and others simply 'put lipstick on pigs' by changing a few words and calling it a city manager. In my estimation, a real city manager is defined as one who is hired/fired by a majority vote of the council, and is the operational manager of city employees, with the instruction to carry out the policy of the council. Whichever bill ends up getting closest to that is the one that I will support.
9:02
Alderman Shropshire just complained that a city manager would prevent him from going to a department head and telling them to do something for his ward. I guess that's what city employees do, but that just sounded weird to me.
9:04
A demand is made that the city manager issue be put to referendum, alluding to the oddity that is the city's failure to have all Charter Amendments go to a referendum. The only referendum procedure is through voter signatures on a petition.
9:08
Alderman Cordle just spoke for what I estimate to be the first time tonight, and he gave a mini campaign speech. I guarantee you that before the end of the night, Alderman Sam will one-up him with an inspirational speech of his own. I look forward to it, as well as the Polish sausage dinner that Alderman Sam has been promising me for some time now.
9:15
Note to readers: people are still talking about city managers.
9:15:20
Note to readers: I am still hungry, so if you have any Polish Sausage, put it in a reusable container and I will pick it up on my way home.
9:28
Josh Cohen is speaking about the philosophy of city managers. You'll remember that he is against, and the other Aldermen are challenging him a bit because they are more expert than him at this point in term regarding the specific terms of the legislation. Plus you learn in city council 101 to never miss an opportunity to challenge your county councilman when he has to debate in your forum.
9:34
Don't fall asleep or do anything fun! Keep reading because the council is scheduled to vote on the homestead credit tonight, which means lowering property taxes, which means you getting more money, which is hopefully important to you.
9:54
The mayor must be more bored than the rest of us, because she just left. Now Alderman Arnett is sitting in the important chair. FYI, Alderman Paone left like 20 minutes ago.
10:03
Ok, I did some snooping around, and found out that Alderman Paone is still here. Also, early word on the Homestead Credit bills is that the 102% (2%) bill is going down, but that Alderman Arnett is the swing vote on the 105% (5%) bill.
10:16
Alderman Sam gave the inspirational speech I was waiting for. "I wasn't elected by the people of Ward 7 to vote only on the easy issues".
10:18
Attendance Update:
Paone: here
Moyer: here
Cordle: just returned.
10:27
It's fair to say that most people here tonight support the "real" city manager idea that I described above. Nonetheless, people are still talking about it.
10:59
Alderman Sam addresses the people watching on TV! Yes!! Like clockwork.
The public hearing for a city manager ends.
There is a 6-3 vote to suspend the rules and consider f'ing legislation past 11:00.
11:01
Classie Hoyle just made the odd comment that there are like 6 potential mayors in the room, and that they should learn to ride in convertibles and wave because they are about to lose the power that the mayor has been privileged to have. That is weird.
The mayor just said you can reduce the homestead credit and reduce the tax rate if need be, but we have been the only jurisdiction to reduce the rate. It really doesn't matter. High popalorum or low popahirum.
Legislation:
O-31-08: 105% Homestead. POSTPONED. 5-4 vote to postpone (Israel, Paone, Cordle, Stankivic). The aldermen are actually really fighting about this and calling each other out. Alderman Paone, in particular, is on the warpath and called out the 5 people that voted to table this, calling them the same people responsible for the budget increases and higher taxes. "The present budget has more fat in it than a weight watchers convention", he said word for word.
O-32-08: City of Annapolis Exempt Service: PASSES. 6-3. (Paone, Cordle, Stankivic)
O-34-08: 102% Homestead: POSTPONED. (see above)
R-62-07: Support For Redevelopment of Public Housing: PASSES. 8-1. (Stankivic)
R-46-08: Reclassification of Transportation Positions: PASSES. 5-4. (Paone, Cordle, Stankivic, Arnett)
R-47-08: Stanton Center Recreation Manager: ?
R-48-08: Dance and Fitness Coordinator: ?.
R-49-08: Hispanic Community Liaison: ?.
R-50-08: Police External Affairs Officer: ?
R-58-08: Excepting Parking Fees At Park Place: ?.
R-59-08: Economic Affairs Advisory Commission: ?.
I had to leave because I couldn't take it anymore. I will try and call the city clerk to see if the rest of that stuff passed.
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