A few items from a long Common Council session —
Council chose an appointee to fill the open Aldermanic District 1 seat. After an initial 3-3 vote between Philip Frawley and Tiiu Gray-Fow, Council selected Philip Frawley. The process – as with the one used last December – was a good one. Applications, speaking in open session, a vote: that’s open and informative, both. Best wishes to Mr. Frawley in the term ahead.
The East Gate Project. It’s lovely, and (sure enough) it will cost millions. It’s like a homeowner’s too-pricey remodel (only with public money): one can spend what one wants, but the expense will not be recouped.
The CDA’s proposed purchase of hundreds of acres of Whitewater’s public land for a dollar. There are two aspects to this proposal: those of policy and those of law. So far, there’s been principal discussion of it twice in Council (6.4.13 and last night, 7.16.13) and once at the CDA (6.27.13).
The proposal will go back to the CDA after last night’s review and direction session.
My take after a first review of what’s now transpired, including the discussion from last night: the policy claims in favor of the sale are diverse but sometimes contradictory (depending on which member of the CDA is advocating for it) but more significantly the legal due diligence required for the sale seems incomplete.
There’s time enough to organize all of the public videos and memoranda on the proposal (including last night’s video), and post on both aspects of it. It’s not that it can’t be done, but rather how it can be done, that matters (even if setting aside the policy question of whether it should be done).
All in all, a long summer evening that went about how one might have expected.