If HRO wins, Jim Rasor leaves a legacy

Commissioner Jim Rasor has only two-and-a-half city commission meetings to attend before his term expires, and his admirers and detractors are noodling about what, if anything, his years of service have meant. Some Versagi Voice readers, especially those who know he has been in my home and that I have been in his home and office, have told me they expect me to comment on his service.

If the Human Rights Ordinance passes, Jim definitely leaves a legacy. No individual has pushed for the HRO as forcefully and consistently as he. If it fails, his years as commissioner will morph into occasional random memories very much like those about Terry Drinkwine, unless he chooses to remain active in city affairs a la former commissioner Tom Hallock.

Frankly, the function and atmosphere of city commission meetings create little opportunity for any individual to create a legacy, other than length of service. The mark Jim leaves in any case is his success in using partisan politics so successfully that two of three of his protégés now sit on the city commission. Had not a woman been running at the time, the number surely would have been three.

It would be easy to write too-long a piece about Jim, because he is a presence wherever he appears. Puzzlingly he seems to be supersensitive and thrashing about recently, when one would expect him to be relaxing as he leaves his seat. When people say "Jim is always about Jim," they are referring to the fact that even in social/civic gatherings Rasor is always "on." The contrast with his buddy, affable Mayor Jim Ellison, is striking.

Versagi Voice has praised him, and criticized him, and defended him when I thought he was being unfairly treated. I found it ironic that for years Jim was the most pro-business guy at The Table, while more conservative guys like Andrzejak and Semchena threw roadblocks.  One of the times I was in his house was to celebrate after he had been cleared after a ridiculous "trial" in city hall. The charges had been made by other commissioners whom Versagi Voice had also praised and criticized.

Frank Versagi is the editor of Versagi Voice.