After Mayor England concluded his comments this morning, council persons Dan Coffey and Diane Benedetti assumed positions behind the microphones to answer media questions about their reactions as council representatives. Steve Price was skulking somewhere in the crowd, but I guess he didn’t have press credentials.
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.
