While I have been salivating since about 10:34 AM to post about this (but I was working) I see Mrs. Holsen beat me to the punch;
I agree that the City Council’s latest action in passing a resolution prohibiting the mayor from spending down the city’s reserves without council approval is a move to tighten control of the mayor, but to say there has been no attempt by Huether to change the reserve’s healthy level is a head scratcher.  Maybe the Editorial Board should start reading its own reporters’ news articles.
The mayor has stated in the past that surplus money will go into the cookie jar for the event center. His actions regarding cuts in departmental budgets and program services and going after employee pay and benefits to ensure the reserve fund continues to build a healthy balance for his EC vision is telling.  It may be a knee jerk reaction of the city council but, then the mayor has not been playing very nice with the city council despite his energetic projections on how he and the council were going to be a team and play nice together when he took office.
There are also several other expenditures he has approved without city council approval. This resolution approval by the city council was a smart move on many levels, even though Mike tried to play ‘Stimpy‘ when they voted on it. But it doesn’t stop the extremely out of touch, ignorant, isolated, idiotic AL editorial board to comment on something they know nothing freaking about, really, they don’t;
But it’s exactly this type of knee-jerk reaction to Huether’s style – rather than the result of a clearly articulated reason – that’s becoming tiresome.
Huh? Not only did the finance committee discuss this for 3 months, they had an unanimous vote on it, on top of that, this has been on the books since 2007. Knee-jerk reaction? Give me a break. You are out-of-line just like the mayor.
What kind of deal have you cooked up with Mike? Seriously? Does it have to do with the EC? Does it have to do with your credit rating? One wonders? I’m starting to think he gives you weekly beatings if you don’t let him say and do what he wants.
Myself? The guy doesn’t scare me, in fact, I find him quite comical, especially how he manages to hoodwink everyone. Keep it up AL Ed Board. I’ll keep laughing. As our city goes down the tubes.
I seem to recall a certain mayoral candidate portrayed as an obstructionist by the Argus, and the my man mike team. Hmmmm.
l3wis. I wonder if Jennifer comes by here as a regular reader? Or was she just a casual drive-by who felt compelled to make one post and move along?
The city is not going to go down down the tubes. The mayor does not have dictatorial powers (however much he mike wnat them). The council can make wahtever changes in the charter, or via resolution they need to to keep the place whirring. Any Mayoral veto can be overridden. Besides that, there are a couple very active groups and some individuals such as you all keepin’ a eye on thangs from askance.
I think it peeves him a little that there is blogs like Jen’s and mine and there is watchdogs like Wrath and Stehly. He may be able to bend over the AL Ed board, but he will get no where with me.
The mayor has dictatorial powers when court cases challenge city government and he has the power to hire outside law firms to fight against the constitution. Where’s the city attorney? Is he just like the others in city administration who wear expensive suits for appearance yet have no authority.