The first meeting of the 28th City of Brookfield Common Council will be held on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 starting at 7:45 p.m. There are a few items of special interest.
The first order of business will be swearing in the 7 newly (re) elected alderman. They are (in order by district) Dan Sutton, Rick Owen, Ron Balzer, Steve Ponto, Scott Berg, Chris Blackburn and Renee Lowerr. Renee is the only new alderman. (I haven't had a chance to ask her if she prefers alderwoman.) I remember my first inaugaration very well. It's a moment of great satisfaction. Then the real work begins!
Second will be the election of the Common Council President. There are several duties for Council President, including:
-
Appoint most of the committee members
-
Chair Council meetings in the Mayor's absence
-
Serve as acting mayor if the mayor is unable to serve
-
Perform ceremonial duties such as ribbon cuttings
This year, there will be two candidates. First is 1st District Alderman Dan Sutton. Dan announced his intentions with personal phone calls to each of us. There are tight limits on what he could say as outlined in a letter from the City Attorney, but his main point was that he wants to bridge the rift that has developed in the council in the last few years. The second candidate is 4th District Alderman Mark Nelson who mailed each of us a letter (I got mine today) outlining his experience and his intentions to foster healthy debate yet unify the group. The candidate who gets a simple majority (at least 8 of the 14 alderman) immediately takes office. In the event of a tie, the Mayor is legally entitled to vote a tie breaker, but he is not required to. For this issue, the Mayor is almost certain to abstain, letting the aldermen sort out who should have the job.
The other key item will be a presentation on the proposed location for the new north side fire station (Station #2). The first public presentation was at a joint Plan Commission and Parks Commission meeting last week on April 7. Many of the questions raised by the commissioners and residents will be answered at this presentation. I will have lots more to say about the fire stations in future posts.
There are also lots of routine ("ministerial duties") items such as granting bartender's licenses which usually go pretty quickly.
If you can't attend the meeting, you can always catch it on the local cable channel during the next week. I will share my insights on the meeting in a couple of days.
