Policy or Pandering?

I thought I'd throw this out, without extraneous comment, to begin a new, and one would hope, more philosophical thread. I'm told by one of his closest advisors that Jeff Gahan, president of the New Albany City Council, has proposed an open forum to discuss the city's sanitation issues.

It is not a public hearing. It is not a council workshop. It does not address pending council business.

So here's the issue: If it's not policy, is it pandering? If this is a campaign event, is it proper to hold it in the city council chamber? Or, should it be held at some other available site?

Further, how should Mr. Gahan conduct this forum? Should he make arrangements to have a recording secretary or other documentary record system? Will he make findings afterward? Will he share these findings and opposing views in any kind of report to council and the public? Are there to be invited speakers to represent various views of the issues? Will Mr. Gahan arrange for law enforcement or other security to maintain control of the gathering? Would you guess the forum will be contentious and angry, or calm and reasoned?

Your thoughts....?

Who's For Real?

The fight comes Monday.

Out of pettiness and revenge for being whipped, it looks as if the council is about to turn on its new leader, Jack Messer, and try to give him a black eye.

Or maybe it's a backlash at discovering the mayor actually is thinking about the future.

In any case, the council approves the appointment of the OEO. If they fail to approve the eminently qualified Mr. Messer, then our suspicions about them will have been proved correct: They were never serious about codes enforcement in the first place.

With Beverly Crump on vacation, more than one city councilMAN is going to have to set aside his wounded pride and prove his code enforcement bona fides.

Remember, Ms. Bolovschak has them all on tape claiming to be born-again enforcers. When she finally turns over those tapes to the NAFC Public Library for public viewing, they won't be able to deny their hypocrisy if they fail to approve Messer.