The 3 Newbies Performed Well

Commissioners Kyle DuBuc, Mike Fournier, and Peggy Goodwin all participated effectively in their first real meeting. No long speeches and only a hint of pontificating from them.

The three old-timers pleased and irritated longtime City Hall observers as is unavoidable. But Pat Capello, Dave Poulton, and Jim Rasor all seemed more sharply attentive than usual, so much so that Pat found it necessary to abstain on a couple of votes.

Mayor Jim Ellison participated more than usual from the Chair, but he was a bit off his game. Jim came across as personally defensive three or four times during the three-hour meeting. Unlike the "too nice" mayor we are all accustomed to, he went on longer than needed to defend his right to make certain appointments, took snipes when a snipe wasn't called for, and commented from the chair about the appropriate placement of items on the agenda.

There was no suggestion that the 46th Commission will see the unprofessional personal arguments which too often disrupted meetings of the 45th.

About the substance of the meeting:

• Unanimously, CITCOM approved about a dozen routine matters like financial reports and appointments, setting up a task force to address party buses.
• The split votes, including the abstentions, were over two issues through which the City of Royal Oak is inserting its thoughts into the doings of the State of Michigan or Oakland County, not really – except through an unreasonable stretch of logic – the city's business.
• The old-timers and the newbies jointly wasted time over how to set up a commission to exercise control over (oops – to encourage) culture and arts in Royal Oak. Hint: Get out of the way. Learn not to say No to placing a lion in front of a store.

I probably will expand about some of this next week. For now, this first real meeting of the 46th Commission earns an A for productivity and an B for efficiency of effort.

Frank Versagi is the editor of Versagi Voice.