Life Of Jason

Tonight, I attended my very first Springfield City Council meeting. It was a very interesting, very eye-opening experience. I met some interesting people (although none of the council members) and came away with distinct first impressions. I apologize if this post is long and a bit scattered but I wanted to try and cover as much of my experience as possible. I walked into the back as the meeting began, pulled my Philadelphia Phillies cap low and spent almost two and a half hours at the meeting. After all that time, they were only halfway through the agenda. I decided to leave after the vote on the Heer’s tower (which passed unanimously.)

Let’s start with the council members themselves and then I’ll address a few issues that were covered and voted upon by the council.

Great first impression: Cindy Rushefsky, Doug Burlison, Dan Chiles

The first thought I had about both Cindy Rushefsky and Doug Burlison is that “these guys really give a darn about the little guy.” They both seemed to respond to the comments from the citizens and asked questions that related to those comments. When I had a question come to my mind about an issue, one of these two asked about it. My only negative thought on either was that Burlison became very quiet after Mayor Carlson lashed out at him unfairly. (I’ll touch on that later.) As for Dan Chiles, he impressed me both in his ability to ask pointed questions to clarify fine points and his apparent openness. He admitted that he had a change of heart on a policy over time and he also admitted a potential conflict of interest regarding the Heer’s tower when he was not obligated to do so. I like openness in public officials and my first impression of Dan Chiles is that I can expect that from him.

Good first impression: Mary Collette

Although I disagreed with the way she characterized the situation the city was in regarding the Heer’s tower, I was impressed by the way she praised the work of city staff and others in regards to issues that came in front of the council. So many times the people who work for the city and get the ducks in a row for these meetings do not receive praise for their work. They face days where people complain about all kinds of things and most of the time they’ll hear the gripes and none of the glory. The fact she made a point to give credit and recognition to some people who do the hard leg work scored points with me.

Neutral first impression: Denny Whayne, John Wylie

John Wylie left me in a quandry because he asked some good questions on some issues but seemed obstructionist toward small business owners at other times. He really rubbed me the wrong way regarding Council Bill 2007-251 when he seemed to be placing the desire to hold onto old policy than doing something that would be a boost to a local neighborhood. It wasn’t enough for me to develop a negative view on him but it did leave me leery of his positions on things. I wonder where his position really falls when it comes to helping our small business owners.

I really didn’t see or hear much from Mr. Whayne to develop a good feel for him. He did make some outstanding comments regarding Council Bill 2007-251 and it made me believe that he’s really interested in revitalization of the north side of Springfield. When he started making comments during the Heer’s debate about St. Louis street in 1975, I found myself tuning him out. If the real Denny Whayne is more like the first guy…about the reviving the north side…I’ll probably like him. If he’s all about the past, he’ll fall into the camp with the next group…

Weak first impression: Ralph Manley, Gary Deaver

Ralph Manley seems like a really decent old guy. He reminds me of a guy I knew when I was a teenager. His name was Dale Starry and he was a songwriter who spent time in Nashville during the Roy Acuff days. He would always talk about the old times and how much better things were then. I remember as Dale was dying from bone cancer how it would lift his spirits just to have me sit there while he shared the stories of his life. I know I won’t forget the look on his face when I’d show up because toward the end no one came around to visit him. Ralph Manley struck me as the same kind of guy as Dale. Good intentions, stories about the past that leave you in awe but focused more on the past than the present. It might be the fact he was very animated about the Heer’s Tower having been the “crown jewel of Springfield and it could be again.” I remember thinking to myself that I want someone focused on the future and not the past representing me.

As for Gary Deaver, he seemed to be trying to hard to make a good impression on the people there. For example, he made a point to bring up how a city department has used small amounts of money to raise even more to improve city greenways and other developments. It’s fine to bring that up but the way he did it left me with the impression he was trying to score points with the voters present any way he could do it. When Council Bill 2007-275 was tabled for 180 days he seemed to almost take it personally.

Bad first impression: Mayor Tom Carlson

I really hate to list the Mayor like this because I know he’s been under fire lately from some corners of the media and political spectrum. I walked into the council chambers without a preconceived notion of the man but was taken aback when he launched into Councilman Doug Burlison just for asking for solid clarification on the storage containers issue. It came off to me as rather arrogant and condescending. It certainly wasn’t something that I expected to see at a council meeting. Later in the council meeting he again made personal comments regarding a slight from talk show host Vincent David Jericho. It wasn’t necessarily that he made the comments but how strongly he kept defending himself. I was thinking “Dude, you’re the Mayor. Just rise above it.”  I don’t have a problem with you defending yourself but it seemed you were trying to exact your pound of flesh instead of just correcting the record.

In his defense, he seemed to not be feeling well. He kept rubbing his eyes and seemed distracted. It’s possible he had a headache or dinner didn’t sit well with him.

Obviously I know first impressions can be wrong. I plan to attend some more council meetings to be a more informed citizen and to get better, deeper impressions of our city council.

Now, on to council actions…

I was happy to see the container ordinance (Council Bill 2007-275) was tabled for further research. I was disheartened to hear the Mayor dismiss opposition to the plan as people being mislead by a “misunderstanding.” I read the bill and thought it was a bad thing for the city. Was there something within the bill that was misinforming me? I saw it as something that was damaging to the businesses of our area and while I appreciate the health and safety issue behind the bill I can’t support the bill itself.

Councilman Chiles made the suggestion that Council members make themselves available to local groups that want to have hearings on the matter. Chiles thought the views of the Council members and their ability to answer questions would be good for maintaining communication with the taxpayers of the community. Dan Chiles is quite right about that.

The Mayor jumped in about how the Council needs to “make decisions as a group” and that if “if you work on a committee…then you vote on it…your objectivity could be questioned.” He then said “what does that say to the community?”

Well, Mr. Mayor, to this member of the community it says that as a Council member you care what the people who elected you to office think about the issues of the day. That you believe they are smart enough to provide quality input and that by being there when they’re meeting you can help provide valuable information that would make a more informed, more involved electorate. Mr. Mayor, you said “so much of what we do depends on the public’s trust.” When you do things in secret, when you don’t get involved with us as we seek to be involved with you then it destroys levels of trust. If I was part of a group that wanted to make a difference on the container issue or any other and we had a meeting where you showed up to answer questions and provide valuable information I know that I would look positively on you. What’s wrong with our Council members being involved with citizens?

I was disappointed that the proposal to sell the Heer’s tower passed because as Dr. John Lilly said during public comments “it’s not a good deal but it’s the only one you have.” Kevin McGowan, the developer of the project, made some comments about how this deal wasn’t as good as he’s received in other cities and he was going to do this deal because of the relationships he had built with some city employees. The speakers and some members of the Council kept talking about how this would be “good for all citizens.” I don’t see where this is going to be good for the average Springfieldian but I’m hoping that I will be proven wrong. They would be bringing in a steakhouse that will be more expensive than the average Springfield citizen can afford and a hotel or condos that won’t mean much to the people who live here. I don’t see where the average Springfield citizen will benefit from this beyond extra tax revenue. Of course, we don’t know where that tax revenue will end up.

The thing that made me happiest was watching a slim majority of the Council stand up for a small business owner who is going to be making a contribution to beautify and boost a north side neighborhood. Council Bill 2007-251 passed 5-4 with Whayne, Collette, Rushefsky, Chiles and Burlison voting in favor of the measure. It’s going to re-zone a section of North Broadway to allow a tea room inside what had been a run down old house. It’s something that can really be a boost to a community and I’m glad to see that the little guy can get a fair shake in the Council chambers.

It wasn’t without drama. The city staff was against the proposal and put all kinds of restrictions on this business. They won’t be allowed to be open after 6pm even for special events. (I guess they need to protect the community from horrible, civic-destroying gatherings like Bible studies, women’s groups or bridal showers.) Even with those restrictions, Manley and Deaver kept bring up the “what if they go out of business and someone else comes in” argument. As someone just sitting there it seemed they wanted to vote no and were just searching for any reason to do it. Wylie was against it because he’s against all forms of “spot zoning” and I can see his view. (I disagree but I can see it.) Mayor Carlson disappointed me by saying he could see the benefit to the neighborhood and was still voting no because instead of putting the tea house up first they rebuilt then home and then wanted the tea house.

I don’t know the woman behind the tea house (Susan Procter) but I was very happy when the proposal passed despite the city staff’s recommendation for denial. I don’t know if the tea room is going to make it but I know that I’m glad they were given a shot to make it. We need to be encouraging small businesses like this which develop a neighborhood’s character instead of throwing road blocks into their path. It leaves the impression we’re not in favor of the small business owner and that’s the last impression Springfield needs to be leaving on anyone. Councilwoman Collette said this could end up being like the area of Cherry & Pickwick and I agree with her. This could be a very good thing for this north side neighborhood and I was glad to see Mr. Whayne speak so strongly for it. When the vote was about to be taken, the only Council member who hadn’t spoken either way was Doug Burlison…so I knew it would pass. I just knew in my heart Burlison was for the little guy.

Ms. Procter, I don’t know when you plan to open but please let me know. My fiancee and I will come and have lunch in your establishment.

Oh, I’m also glad the proposal for the three million dollar construction project for the Springfield Art Museum went through without a hitch. There’s no taxpayer dollars for the project and a ton of red tape was cut through tonight.

There’s my impressions of my first City Council meeting. I hope that over the next few months I can get to sit down and meet with City Council members to find out how accurate I was with my first impressions. (I know that will be hard to do but I’m going to make the effort.) I hope that Council members would be willing to come out and support the Walk Now For Autism event on September 8th…it would be nice to see our city leaders there to show support to our citizens facing autism every day. (If someone’s reading this at City Hall, yes, that’s a hint…)