While Bob Ingressa's story says that the Council President's post in largely powerless, that is not true.
The President sets the Council Agenda and decides what goes on the Consent Agenda and what gets debated. That means that many issues did not get discussed that the powers that be; The Mayor, Council President; City Staff did not want discussed for close to ten years. This change had to be done, because over the last 9 months Bostrom has failed to be a leader on the Council. Dave Thune thought that Bostrom might come around and lead initiatives, so he originally voted to keep Bostrom as President. However, he has failed to keep up with the times, has been wrong on several key issues, so it was time to replace him. Dan is lucky he held onto his Presidency the last 9 months and he would still be President if he had shown some leadership skills. Just witness his role in the recent smoking debate. After Kelly vetoes the non-smoking resolution and Thune introduces a second resolution, identical to Minneapolis's, providing the "regional solution" Kelly and bars have talked so much about, what does Bostrom do, but play Kelly's lapdog and introduces Kelly's bill that would still allow smoking in bars. This is a long time overdue and I say hooray to Lee Helgin, Dave Thune, Jay Benanav and Kathy Lantry. I am miffed that Bostrom now rants against "The Gang of Four" when he is on the losing end of this. He never talked about how his "Gang of Five"; him, Jim Reiter, Chris Coleman, Jerry Blakey and Pat Harris quashed almost any progressive idea in this city for ten years under Norm Coleman and Mayor Kelly for 2 years. We should all wish Kathy well. I expect the good leadership coming out of Council to continue. Dan Dobson Summit Hill --- Erik Hare <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Yeah, best of everything, Kathy. She's a good > choice to head the Council, > but I have to ask why this had to be done and what > fallout there'll be > from it. I don't understand frankly. To me, the > position is largely > ceremonial -- and I'd like to be corrected if I'm > wrong. If this means > that the Council sees a need to unify and challenge > the Mayor on nearly > everything, that seems like a lot of turmoil going > into some critical > budget periods and a critical Legislativve session. > > As always, I hope for the best for my City. > > Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://home.comcast.net/~wabbitoid/ > Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, > North America, Earth > > Fine Amish furniture, cedar chests, and crafts > http://www.harmonycedar.com > > > > _____________________________________________ > To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _____________________________________________ > NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your > password - visit: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > > Archive Address: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ > _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
