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Wag the Dog

Why does a dog wag its tail? Because a dog is smarter than its tail. If the tail was smarter, the tail would wag the dog! An old joke that applys to today.

Quick Hits - 4/15/08

By Bryan Maersch
Tuesday, Apr 15 2008, 09:04 PM
  • Tonight’s City Council meeting included the swearing in of Mayor Tom Taylor, new Aldermen Kristen Wilhelm (3rd District) , Steve Taylor (4th District) and incumbent 6th District alderman Ken Skowronski.

    During the citizen comment period after the swearing in, former 4th Distinct alderman Pete Kosovich gave a very touching speech, summing up his past years on the council, the election and a promise in his best TERMINATOR  voice “ I’ll be back”.

     
  • The interesting surprise of the night, was that new alderman Steve Taylor, was elected Council President.  Steve was nominated for the position by new alderman Kristen Wilhelm. Former Council President Lyle Sohns was also nominated.  Alderman Steve Olson was out of town on business but had requested the council wait until the next meeting for the Council President vote. Despite this request the nominations and the vote went ahead,  three to two in favor of Steve Taylor for Council President.

     I believe the two new council members that were voted in during the April 1st election will make their mark on this council.  

    There was no WAGGING THE DOG at tonight's meeting or was there?
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Comments

Cindy   

Wow! That is interesting. Do you know what the council president does for Franklin? In Brookfield that person sets the committees, and that creates a pretty significant flow of power. Is it the same there?

April 15, 2008 10:04 PM

Bryan Maersch   

Interesting you should ask that Cindy. Lyle Sohns was the Council President up until yesterday. If he had the power to set or sway agenda, I would wonder why the nominations / vote went ahead even though Alderman Olson requested a delay until the next meeting so he could vote.

My guess is that the vote would have been 3 to 3 requiring the Mayor to break that tie.

I can not say for sure, but I do believe that the Franklin Common Council is a Mayoral driven council unlike Brookfield apparently.

I would hope one of the Alderman could confirm or reject this assumption.

 

April 16, 2008 11:04 AM

Scott Thinnes   

I believe the Council President is mostly a ceremonial position. They do chair the Common Council meetings in the Mayors absence. I think the most significant aspect is that of succession. I believe the Council President would be the acting Mayor if the elected Mayor could not fulfill the duties. That, until a special election was held. Not positive, but I believe I heard that somewhere.

April 16, 2008 2:56 PM

Bryan Maersch   

I kind of got that feeling Scott.

Since the Mayor tends to proceed with his own agenda,including proceeding with the council president vote. I have seen Lyle only take over meetings a couple of times.

I really think it would have been interesting to see who the Mayor would have sided with had Steve Olson been present to vote. This is assuming Steve would have voted for his old colleague Lyle Sohns.

I am seeing that other Franklin bloggers feel it is more than a ceremonial position and that it is the new dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

April 16, 2008 5:14 PM

Janet Evans   

Woof....

There was a small litter of puppies born.

There was dog wagging going on.

April 16, 2008 5:15 PM

Janet Evans   

No, I don't think of it as anything more than an "organizational" position, Bryan.  But Sohns just couldn't let it go last night.

April 16, 2008 5:33 PM

Cindy   

Sure enough, Franklin's code is online so I checked it out. Your Mayor appoints the committees and they are subject to council confirmation. It happens the first meeting in May.

The President does run the meeting if the Mayor's away. He can also call a snow emergency if the Mayor is unable to do so.

I'd agree it's ceremonial.

April 16, 2008 9:46 PM

Bryan Maersch   

Lets just hope that the Mayor does not go on vacation or get sick until Alderman Taylor gets up to speed!

April 17, 2008 2:36 PM

Janet Evans   

Since Franklin doesn't have a "red button" that might have to be pushed, I don't think we have anything to worry about.

April 17, 2008 8:41 PM

Bryan Maersch   

No Janet but I do believe Mayor Taylor has a Bat Phone in his office.

April 18, 2008 7:04 AM

Janet Evans   

It's good to know I have a phone to call at 3:00 in the morning in Franklin ...even if it's a Bat Phone.

April 18, 2008 11:11 AM

Randy Hollenbeck   

Thanks for posting a correction to the readers info on my blog.  Hopefully you enjoyed my blogs and keep going back.  I read yours as I bop around on the different cities.

Thats "The Way I see it!"

Cudahynow

April 18, 2008 5:53 PM

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About Bryan Maersch

A former reporter for several local radio stations, Bryan is now a computer geek for a large Life Insurance Company. Bryan decided to join FranklinNOW as a blogger to provide a viewpoint from a realistic Franklin Taxpayer, Dad and Husband. DISCLAIMER: The opinions stated on this blog are those of the writer only and do not reflect or are not connected in any way to his employer.