One of the less fun things about my real job is that while often I have plenty of time to post, some times things pop up that demand a whole lot of attention – right away!  The second half of last week, and so far all of this week has been that way.

Still, there are a couple things I’d like to post.  

The last thread has strayed off topic, but it’s still a good conversation, so…

From what I’ve seen from the city’s website, the study session on Neighborhood Ordinance Enforcement/Strengthening/Improvement that I thought was going to be held tonight after the closed session is not on the agenda.  I’m sure the study session will happen (maybe next Monday?), and when it does, I’d like to have some good ideas circulating in the community.  

So…Let’s kick some around some thoughts on the subject…

Since the last thread has strayed pretty far off the original topic (several times!), I think we’re due a new line of conversation….

This conversation started with a contributer posting a “hey, what's up with this” question in another thread. I've cut-and-pasted the conversation from the other thread as the first comment below.

I've not heard of the group called “Friends of ChangeDecatur”. I don't know who their membership is, and I don't have any idea whether or not they're supporters or opponents of the move for Strong Mayor.

Here's a link to what I can only describe as their manifesto: http://www.blogdecatur.com/scoop/html/FOCD.pdf

Before you read it there are a few things you should know:

 

1. The document is presented “as-is” I scanned it straight in from the paper copy that found its way to me.

2. “Friends of ChangeDecatur”, as far as I can tell, is a purely anonymous group. No one is willing to take ownership for this document. No individuals have signed their name to it, and there is no public membership.

3. It was delivered in a plain brown envelope with no return address.

It started off really well. The Mayor-pro-tem welcomed a new batch of Police Auxiliary Officers to service.  The new officers were sworn in with lots of photos and pride bursting from everyone in the room…Well done!

And...

Mayoral replacement:  Is anyone emerging as a strong replacement?  I haven’t heard.

If the new Mayor is appointed from the council, who do you see as a potential replacement for that councilperson?

City Manager search:  What’s the schedule looking like?  I was thinking the whole process would be completed in 90 or so days…It would be good to hear back from the search firm sometime in June.

Aww, heck, we might as well throw in everyone’s picks for Macon County Sheriff, too.

Sue Barnhart posted a link in another thread to this story from Tuesday’s Decatur Herald and Review newspaper: http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2008/05/28/news/local/1032854.txt

What do you think?

First, the Mayor wasn’t there.  I’d heard he was feeling bad - hopefully everything’s OK.  Also, City Clerk Celeste Harris wasn’t able to make it, either. 

We arrived at the meeting in the middle of the DCDF meeting scheduled for 5:15-5:30…The meeting that was originally scheduled for 15 minutes ended sometime after 60.  It was a sign of things to come. In short – the meeting was much longer than it should have been, and much less productive than it could have been. DCDF is a totally different beast, and I’m still trying to figure out exactly what it is/does….

Mayor Paul Osborne today published an article about potential candidates for the 2009 City Council race. Among potential candidates, the Mayor mentioned Steve Garman, Pat McDaniel, a mysterious woman, and some guy named Matthew Jackson. The seats up for reelection are currently held by Shad Edwards, Betsy Stockard, and Dan Caulkins.

Any thoughts?

I’ll post more in the comments; today’s turned into a really busy day!

In general it was a very meandering meeting. I think the council is still fatigued from the budget/goal session/interim city manager meetings. I must say, I think the Mayor is taking a little tighter hold on the reigns in council meetings; which is a very good thing in my opinion! 

OK, so here’s a quick rundown (yes, it is very short):

Well, after the first study session, I was optimistic. After this one, I'm pessimistic.

On to the easy stuff – they passed the budget.

I like Tony Libratore, I really do, and if I ever decide to get an MBA from MU, I hope he doesn't hold this against me, but I think he's plain not up to speed when it comes to dealing with political bodies.

Tony sent a message out (I'll have to forgive myself for the cut-and-paste):

“Dear Mayor & Council:

Here is a revision of the notes. It is interesting that the responses ranged from hopes to programs. I tried to summarize the focus of the discussion in a statement of Vision of Success. Then I grouped the more specific points in a map of suggested initiatives. It was relatively easy for water since the suggestions fall broadly into the categories of supply and demand.

I believe we can take these initiatives and add greater specificity – make them more measurable: for example, on dredging - cubic yards removed in total/per hour, or some quantification. Then we could outline a short action plan with dates and responsibilities to create tracking and accountability (complete the Leadership Circle).

There are some techniques we would develop to do the action planning. They would follow the stripes-off, follow the rules process.

Tony”

5:30pm on the campus of Millikin University in the ADM Scovil Building.  

In official business, the Council is set to approve the budget.  Barring the appearance of television cameras, it should be a pretty easy thing for the council to accomplish.  If cameras do appear, I’m sure it will still go well, it’ll just take a lot longer for a couple folks to get their sound bites in…

The interesting part of the evening is going to be a continuation of the goals session.  The council has identified Water, Police (expansion/accommodation), and Neighborhoods as the 3 most important items that need to be addressed in the community. 

Come on down!

First, at 5 pm  the city council will be meeting in special session to hear presentations from the PAR Group, the Mercer Group, Bob Murray and Associates, and Slavin Management Consultants.

Each of the groups are going to make presentations explaining their suitability to be retained as the Executive Search Recruitment choice in the council’s effort to find a new City Manager.

Anyone who’s seriously interested in seeing change in Decatur should attend – this is undoubtedly the start of one of the most important undertakings facing the council.

I’m even taking off work a little early to get there….

Even though there was a council meeting last week, and a study session on Saturday, other things kept me from posting.

I’ll to do better this week!