The odd couple spoke for somewhere around 10 minutes, but I ceased listening after CM Coffey’s introductory remarks, which were offered in the trademark Cappuccino whine, outlining many of the major policy areas that no council blessed by his presence has ever attempted to address, blaming these failures entirely on the past two mayors, and noting that now, with the council finally accomplishing something (albeit a misdirected smoking ordinance that not a single candidate, Coffey included, openly supported in the 2007 elections), the mayor first refused to assist the council by offering potential exceptions to the ordinance, and then vetoed the result.
Let me get this straight: What we should have been doing as a council, we couldn’t, wouldn’t or just plain didn’t … and then we finally did something, even if it made a mockery of our ability to prioritize given previous glaring omissions … therefore, it’s the mayor’s fault that we’re confused, and he should give us even more latitude accordingly.
Right. Like I told the television interviewer, there’s a fallacy in there somewhere (theatrical batting of eyelids), but I just can’t find it amidst the flagrant grandstanding.
For early local blogosphere returns, go to http://www.thevillevoice.com/, which selects England (as) Worst Politician of the Day.
Here are some photos of the festivities.
The photo of me come to us from WFPL-FM. The others I took.
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ReplyDelete(grr typo)
ReplyDeleteIs anyone else really bothered by the awesome "Please Sign In" notice taped to the side of the podium.
Good.lord.
Paraphrased:
ReplyDelete"The mayor clearly outlined his priorities. We ignored them and decided to treat the smoking ban as more important. Now that he actually wants us to take responsibility for having done so, we're accusing him of being uncooperative.
Leadership is his responsibility, not ours, even though we brought this to the table, not him.
Furthermore, having voted in favor of exemptions, how dare he put us in the position of considering exemptions."
This even tops some of Price's greatest moments.
For the sake of spared embarrassment, I hope at least one of the other council members pipes up to reflect a view much different than the two offered so far.
No one really asked for this, or at least by admission of one council person, the council brought this forward on their own.
ReplyDeleteWhen WE elected them, all they talked about was cleaning up this city, which is what the voters of this city were the most concerned with.
How can they complain of not being offered leadership when this is an issue the council took the lead in?
Mayor England simply listened to both sides of the issue, and suggested a middle of the road stance for the city to offer.
And the middle of the road is not that bad, go to far to the left or right and your gonna end up in a ditch.
to the associate editor:
ReplyDeleteDo you now support the smoking restrictions as proposed by the Mayor?
Ceece,
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify, the podium in use was hijacked from the 3rd floor assembly room (council chambers).
Hence the "Please Sign In" poster.
John,
ReplyDeleteIf there's a workplace ban, it should apply to every workplace in the same manner.
I keep tellin' you guys. We can't make this stuff up!!
ReplyDeleteYou know, when I saw and heard the clips from today's event, I couldn't stop laughing. As I heard Coffey speak and watched his mug on the screen, all I could think about were the old Andy Griffith episodes where Deputy Fife continually threatens to bust out his bullet from his front pocket because Sheriff Andy would not let him keep his gun loaded...irony?
ReplyDelete"You got to N-I-P it in the bud!"
@HighwayMan. Oh I know where it came from. It's just awesome that no one could pull it off so we don't look anymore foolish than we already do.
ReplyDeleteCoffey,please tell me it's not true that you use dip!
ReplyDelete