The agenda for tonight's Board of Alderman meeting is long, bleak, and nothing to get excited about, I'm bringing my blanky. There may be a surprise or two and if so they would probably come during the Mayor and Aldermen reports, but other than that, I don't see anything controversial.
Regarding the Mayor's Report, if the city attorney, Paul Rost finished his assessment of the executive session minutes as directed by the Mayor they could be released. These minutes reference the alleged influence peddling of Mayor Paul Lambi who is seeking to clear his name of all wrong-doing and expose what he referred to as a "witch hunt." He pressed the aldermen during their last meeting to release them for public record. Given the nature of these minutes, I can not believe the transcripts would be released in their entirety.
Lambi joined by Aldereman Guccione want the documents released without editing for sensitive information. Guccione supported the employee who filed a formal complaint against Lambi and voted with the entire Board of Aldermen after several months of secret meetings between the Board and special personnel attorneys to send the investigation to the State Ethics Committee. Some believe Guccione sided with Lambi for political reasons, not a moral conscience cleansing. Tonight could be interesting to see how Mayor-Elect Nick Guccione handles his joining at the hip with Lambi at their last Board meeting with respect to the reversal of his stand on the investigation and his support of it.
Guccione insulted all of the seated Aldermen with his reversal and newly acquired allegiance with Lambi that they were on a "witch hunt." It's odd that he went along with the investigation for months and even voted to turn it over to another authority along with all of the Aldermen but now changed his tune. Wouldn't that suggest that for several months in closed and open session he was carrying a torch in this "witch hunt" too?
Guccione is going to be Mayor in two weeks and as such will be needing to serve the best interests of the city. If he sides with Lambi tonight to release the unedited minutes, and if they are successful, he could be placing the City in a position of liability. If he joins the Aldermen to support not releasing them, he is admitting that his coming clean was political and simply pandering to Lambi voters. He is at his first crossroads and his actions tonight with this issue will speak volumes as to the type of Mayor he will be.
Guccione is going to be Mayor in two weeks and as such will be needing to serve the best interests of the city. If he sides with Lambi tonight to release the unedited minutes, and if they are successful, he could be placing the City in a position of liability. If he joins the Aldermen to support not releasing them, he is admitting that his coming clean was political and simply pandering to Lambi voters. He is at his first crossroads and his actions tonight with this issue will speak volumes as to the type of Mayor he will be.
I'm not sure what to expect from the Aldermen reports, there could be some fireworks regarding the election and the ethics of some candidates, but this is pure speculation. If you want to spend three or four hours listening to public hearings, bills, and resolutions come on out at 6:00pm. There should be plenty of room and you could join me in a nap. If anything wakes me up, I'll report it tomorrow, hope to see you there.
Addendum A, April 11, 2012, 3:00pm:
There's a rift in the dark side of the force. Nick Guccione has turned on his campaign manager Donna Sherwood to support her opponent, Jeremy Pritchett. It started about two weeks prior to the election when Guccione began campaigning the streets with Pritchett instead of holding hands with Sherwood. Now, Guccione has promised the Ward 2 seat of Chris Gard to Pritchett in the election of 2013. Gard is a highly active and intelligent member of the Board of Aldermen and again I resent Guccione's attempt to dumb-it-down we have our hands full of that at the top. Worry about running the city, not the election coming next year, I think you have promises to fulfill, good luck with that. It's as I've always said, Guccione is not about issues, he's about politics.
Addendum B, April 11, 2012, 3:20pm:
I missed a biggie on the agenda under "New Business," I don't know how I overlooked this one: Item "5. (ID#3815) Request for payment of legal fees." Mayor Lambi is asking the taxpayers to pay the legal fees he's incurred as a result of the alleged "influence peddling" investigation. I didn't see this one coming and not sure where it's going but I don't think the Board is going to grant his request.
Addendum A, April 11, 2012, 3:00pm:
There's a rift in the dark side of the force. Nick Guccione has turned on his campaign manager Donna Sherwood to support her opponent, Jeremy Pritchett. It started about two weeks prior to the election when Guccione began campaigning the streets with Pritchett instead of holding hands with Sherwood. Now, Guccione has promised the Ward 2 seat of Chris Gard to Pritchett in the election of 2013. Gard is a highly active and intelligent member of the Board of Aldermen and again I resent Guccione's attempt to dumb-it-down we have our hands full of that at the top. Worry about running the city, not the election coming next year, I think you have promises to fulfill, good luck with that. It's as I've always said, Guccione is not about issues, he's about politics.
Addendum B, April 11, 2012, 3:20pm:
I missed a biggie on the agenda under "New Business," I don't know how I overlooked this one: Item "5. (ID#3815) Request for payment of legal fees." Mayor Lambi is asking the taxpayers to pay the legal fees he's incurred as a result of the alleged "influence peddling" investigation. I didn't see this one coming and not sure where it's going but I don't think the Board is going to grant his request.
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