City council is more interesting to me than any movie, any TV program, many social events. There is occasional drama, humor and pathos, not to mention combat. I am there defending my tax dollar and the character of my city. You should be, too.

It is budget time at council and members all receive a large notebook filled with pages of information, they receive briefings, they are summoned to private meetings, some of them study diligently on their own. Then, department by department, city officials troop to the table and explain the generalities of their departments, why they have half an employee more or less than last year, etc. Nine council members raise points, posture, occasionally seem indifferent to the process. To the average citizen it is an unfathomable process.

Last Tuesday night members of council bemoaned tight revenues and the need to cut here and there. Note that those who would call themselves fiscal conservatives bemoaned tight revenues. Tom Smith made a point: if we are more fiscally responsible in our spending then funding sources might not be so tight. His case in point was the waste of $1.2 on Calhoun Street, not including the $800k that will be required to service that borrowing.

At one point Tim Pape had to be invited back to the table to vote on a measure. Tim is among the smartest, quickest brains on council, but Tuesday night he was away from the table chatting with a member of the administration while a discussion was held. One would think he would pay closer attention. Tim can be quick to chide others, including councilman Shoaff who is a very gentle, polite and thoughtful member, but stubbornly defends his own deviations or prerogatives. You might remember Tim likes to go through his mail, communicate on his Blackberry to the disappointment of Smith, president of the council, the one in charge of herding the cats along toward each vote.

Liz Brown is one of the more interesting members. She is learning the methods by which to get her way. She has thrown tantrums, she has verbal assaulted other members, city employees and citizens, she has introduced legislation that only one member voted for, that being Liz Brown. She regularly announces she is a conservative, fiscally, but votes for expensive projects, such as Calhoun Street. She is a conservative when she disagrees with a project, but liberal spends when concrete is involved. Liz is a very, very smart woman and will learn quickly as her term progresses, but the question is whether she will enter the next election cycle with so many enemies that even high name recognition can’t save her re-election bid.

Tom Didier is a very nice man. He seems a bit over his head during discussions at the table. He paraphrases comments others at the table have made and uses two words, generally incorrectly, as place holders, his substitutes for “uh” and “ya know.” He likes to use “simplistic” when he should simply use “simple.” He does, however, have a very big heart, cares deeply for the community and works at his job. His flip-flop the other night, though, on Renaissance Square was comic. Glynn Hines even commented that he, Glynn, was glad that Tom “finally got it.” Glynn was a little harsh. Tom was informed by the administration that the extra four million cost for the building purchase was normal. But, that wasn’t why Mr. Didier voted against the bill in the first place. Mayor Henry had presented the deal to council as costing $14 million. Later, the administration revealed the extra $4 in the financing ordinance they sent down. Smith caught the 30 percent increase in the price tag and call the administration on it. Tom Didier’s eyes narrowed as the two lawyers tried to explain the sly of hand. Tom Didier finally wondered out loud why they just didn’t say that in the first place. He felt snookered. Administration lawyers explained that there were associated costs, Tim Pape rationalized the extra costs as normal, Glynn gleamed that new jobs would be created. Tom still felt snookered and voted against the ordinance, along with Smith, Harper and Shoaff. Over the interceding week The administration worked on Didier, he changed his vote and Glynn ridiculed him publicly, not for backing down, but for finally “getting it.” Didier should have been ridiculed. He had been snookered, that had not changed; he just wanted to join the team, for that he should have gotten the brass bozo award.

Smith, Shoaff and Harper do not care about being loved and part of the Henry team. All three make points, argue details and find the administration to be untrustworthy. There is a growing body of information to support that last point. Frequently, Smith and Shoaff vote together, sometimes they disagree. Mitch Harper occasionally is the lone dissenter on a measure, usually from a well reasoned principle. Harper, for example, voted against the ordinance offered by Karen Goldner to give a priority on purchases by city government to products and services from Indiana, such as a Toyota truck, or a company in Evansville over a company based in Hicksville. Know anyone in Evansville? Harper made that point. Hicksville is not so far away, Evansville is 250 or more. Goldner was trying to score points with the local business community, Harper judged it ludicrous. But, the politically expedient vote was for the bill.

Marty Bender, to finish, abstained from voting on his own pay raise the other night. It was a step forward for Marty. He is employed by the City and has a conflict of interest on nearly every ordinance that comes down from the ninth floor. Marty gets it, but doesn’t see that as a problem, certain less a matter for concern than for the rank at which he will retire. Consequently, he can only be see as the mayor’s vote on city council.

At times, usually between 5:30 and 8pm each Tuesday, City Council is more interesting than any soap opera. Happily, during budget hearings the show has special airings each Thursday, same time, same channel.

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