I was unable to attend a Cincinnati City Council Meeting due to conflicts with my work and class schedule. Fortunately, I was directed to council's site by a classmate and watched a video of the February 16, 2011 meeting.
The meeting was surprisingly succinct. Vice-mayor Roxanne Qualls opened the session, followed by role call. Qualls yielded the floor to Councilpersons Birding and Young as they recognized members of the community. Birding recognized David Allen, music director of St. Williams Church and Councilperson posthumously recognized Roberta McLean, a leading member of Cincinnati society. The resolution was presented to her husband. It was very nice for the council and Mayor Mallory to recognize these individuals for their contributions to the Cincinnati community, especially Allen for his work at St. Williams. Vice mayor Qualls called a 10 minute recess... 10 minutes into the council meeting! I am assuming I would understand this recess better if I was physically present but from my perspective, the recess was unnecessary.
Upon return from the recess, the council had a moment of silent prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Qualls conducted the meeting, which had (what she called) a short agenda. The agenda included discussion of some municipal codes. Topics that had been previously discussed were not read again but voted upon by the members. This aspect of the meeting was repetitive and confusing at times but easily handled by Qualls. I perked up when the council voted on an agenda item concerning Keller's IGA in Clifton. It was higher on the agenda but Young requested the item to be discussed later. The store has been closed since January due to some tax issues and has been sorely missed by college students, neighborhood residents, the store's 50 employees, friends and supporters. Fortunately, the council unanimously voted on a resolution urging the governor to work with the Ohio Tax Commission on behalf of IGA to reopen.
After agenda items were discussed and voted upon by council members, Qualls called for committee announcements. She shared some information from the Livable Communities committee on a new development in Oakley/Milford. I was surprised by Quinliven's announcement from the.... Sunshine Committee?! She wished Councilman Birding a happy belated birthday. I found it interesting that a sunshine committee exists and that Quinliven felt the need to publicly acknowledge Birding's birthday.
The council meeting was simple and quick. After watching this one video, I almost wanted to watch another one to see if they were all so terse. I was expecting heated arguments; these council members did not debate or argue. No public policy related to the arts was on the agenda or debated but I did note that some of the resolutions and municipal code agenda items did not receive votes from a few council members. The Keller's IGA agenda item is related to the art community as that neighborhood is home to some of Cincinnati's most creative businesses and people.
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