Late Night at City Hall

Well it was a very late night at City Hall last night and I don't have a lot of time to report on it all now, but will give a few highlights...

The budget was approved and an amendment was made to pay the current (actually a little past due) payment to the airport.  Another motion was made to amend the 2011 budget and appropriate about 10% of the June 2011 payment.  All in all, no big surprises on this continuing saga.  I am sure it is not the end.

A large group of code changing bills were presented.  They amount to three significant changes and a lot of clean up bills due to the three significant changes.  One bill was a "dangerous buildings" bill and while it has some minor issues that a few are worried about, in general it is palatable if not acceptable.  Another bill presented is an "Administrative Warrant" bill.  Very interesting.  I guess I had been under the incorrect impression that a judge would issue a warrant for inspection of a property that the owner refused to allow access to.  I learned that without this new piece of legislation judges are reluctant to issue those.  City attorney Dustin explained the need and procedure well and that passed with little to no question. I got the impression he left a few with a glaze over their eyes, but being a glutton for anything legal, I was excited to learn the process and the logic behind it.  The third bill was a "Nuisance" ordinance that had been  discussed and re-discussed with the Board of REALTORS and it's attorney and City staff over and over again.  The changes were made over a number of months and in general were taken as far as staff could take them given the request they had been given by the council.  A few issues were still not at all acceptable to the REALTORS and the City Council was very good at listening and possibly considering changes.  Not a lot of use going into detail.  They have to make several changes to the nuisance bill to make it effective and not become a major problem to a significant number of citizens.

One one hand I have to admit, it was a long late evening, but on the other, it began to feel a bit too much like Washington DC of late.  We saw a bill passed on first reading that was clearly not acceptable to the aldermen, but they passed so they could read it and then later try to fix it.  I think I heard that lately on national TV!  In fairness to the city though, our system has a second reading and second vote.  Sure wish that were the case in DC.

It was a long and difficult night.  It ended up relatively fair and some wins came with some losses and we even might have seen a couple ties.  Definitely a couple rain delays.  Enough baseball for one day!

Sorry if you were looking for more controversy, this week was just plain democracy in action. But stay tuned, I am trying to stir the pot a little.  Maybe after Christmas?

Merry Christmas All!