Some have criticized councilor Stehly for pushing for an advisory vote, but I will commend the 5 councilors who chose to move it to a 2nd reading.
Politically, I believe in having a strategy, sticking to it, piling it on and coming from many directions to solve an issue or get important people elected.
That being said, the advisory vote is an example of another thing to try to stop the repeal of the bonds. This is NOT a time to give up. The 5 councilors, to their credit, worked very hard to stop the bonds, why give up now?
If a judge decides the petitions are valid and they are validated, that means the council will have to set an election date anyway, if they are not, the election would be moot and not happen. So what is the harm in trying? There is NO harm. No tax dollars expended.
There is also a second part of this scenario, let’s say the stars do online and the petitions are validated before October 1st, that means if the mayor still chooses to move forward on the sale, the only thing really stopping him is an action by a judge to impose a temporary restraining order, that is also in the writ filed with the court. Not only would the stars have to align, they would need the help of a couple of passing comets.
Like I said though, you must pile in on. No foul no harm. Besides, no pain, no gain.
I often comment to politicos that Mayor Huether has a ‘win at any cost’ mantra, he is determined and should NEVER be under estimated. He doesn’t lose often. You can’t change Mike’s mind by resting on your laurels or going at 50%+1. You must fight fire with fire.
I encourage the 5 councilors to continue to stoke those fires.