[Vision2020] First meeting of Moscow's new council hits sour note

[Joan Opyr]

Area Man Dan forwarded the following from the Lewiston Tribune.  
(Thanks, Dan.)  My comments re: Dave's article are in all caps and 
brackets.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com

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First meeting of Moscow's new council hits sour note
By DAVID JOHNSON
of the Tribune

MOSCOW -- So much for political niceties. After more than an hour of 
gracious words and the swearing in of a new mayor and city councilors
here Tuesday night, something akin to a political food fight broke out.

Then, at the end of the night, the table got reset as if nothing had 
happened.

New councilor John Weber said the situation had failed the "smell test" 
and he felt "railroaded."

Bob Stout, another new member of the council, said he was "perplexed 
and offended" by Weber's words.

Incumbent councilor Linda Pall called the scene "really unfortunate."

[THAT'S NOT SURPRISING AS LINDA WORKED HAMMER AND TONGS TO MAKE THE 
SITUATION "REALLY UNFORTUNATE."  I'M SORRY TO SAY THAT SHE RESORTED TO 
BULLYING, GRANDSTANDING, BELLIGERENCE, AND INSULT.  WHERE, OH WHERE, IS 
THE LINDA PALL I KNOW AND LOVE?  WHERE IS THE LINDA PALL I HAVE LONG 
RESPECTED, ADMIRED, AND SUPPORTED ?  WERE THE "THANK YOU" GIFTS SHE 
DISTRIBUTED AT THE BEGINNING OF CITY COUNCIL MEANT ONLY TO SERVE AS 
INSULATION FOR THE STINGING SLAPS SHE DELIVERED LATER IN THE SESSION?  
I AM SORRY TO REPORT THAT HER BEHAVIOR TOWARD HER NEW COLLEAGUES WAS 
NOT ONLY SORRY; IT WAS DISCOURAGING.  I AM DISAPPOINTED IN LINDA.  VERY 
DISAPPOINTED.]

And former Mayor Marshall Comstock, who'd just wished new Mayor Nancy 
Chaney well and presented her with a new gavel, fumed. He compared what 
transpired to a "slap in the face" to him, the former council, city 
staff and other officials.

What happened was newly-elected councilor Aaron Ament waited until the 
swearing-in ceremonies had ended to unceremoniously make a motion to 
place a moratorium on conditional-use permit applications for all 
educational institutions and commercial schools in the downtown 
business sector.

"I hate to have to spring this on the council," Ament said.

[I UNDERSTAND WHY MARSHALL MIGHT FEEL SLAPPED, BUT THERE IS NO CAUSE 
FOR HIM TO FEEL PUZZLED.  LAST NIGHT, AARON AMENT ACTED IN A DIRECT AND 
FORTHRIGHT MANNER.  HE MADE GOOD ON HIS CAMPAIGN PROMISES, JUST AS I 
WOULD EXPECT.  DURING THE CAMPAIGN, AARON TOLD THE WHOLE OF MOSCOW, 
SUPPORTERS AND NON-SUPPORTERS ALIKE, EXACTLY WHERE HE STOOD ON THE 
ISSUES AND EXACTLY WHAT HE WOULD DO IF ELECTED.  PERHAPS IN THIS DAY 
AND AGE, THAT IS SURPRISING.  TOO BAD.

NOW, SINCE WHEN IS THE WORK OF A PREVIOUS CITY COUNCIL SACROSANCT?  WE 
OFTEN REVISIT OLD DECISIONS, PARTICULARLY IF THEY WERE BAD AND/OR 
DELETERIOUS.  AARON MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE WAS PROPOSING THE MORATORIUM 
ON C.U.P.s IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT AS A PROTECTIVE ACTION.  WE 
NEED A MORATORIUM UNTIL THE IMPACT OF ALLOWING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 
IN THE CBD CAN BE FULLY STUDIED.  WHAT'S THE IMPACT ON PARKING?  ON 
RETAIL BUSINESS?  ON THE FACE OF DOWNTOWN?  WHY WAS THE ORDINANCE THAT 
MIGHT ALLOW EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE CBD RUSHED THROUGH AT THE 
LAST MOMENT BY THE LAST CITY COUNCIL WITH SUCH UNSEEMLY HASTE?  I'LL 
TELL YOU WHY -- BECAUSE IT WAS GIVEN WINGS BY THE RED BULL OF THE 
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS.  NO ONE SHOULD BE SURPRISED THAT THE NEW COUNCIL 
SHOULD WISH TO REVISIT THE POOR DECISIONS OF THE OLD.  I WOULD BE 
SURPRISED IF AARON HAD NOT MADE HIS MOTION FOR A MORATORIUM.  I WOULD 
BE SURPRISED IF JOHN DICKINSON AND BOB STOUT HAD NOT SUPPORTED THAT 
MOTION.  THE NEW CITY COUNCIL IS A NEW BROOM, AND THAT NEW BROOM HAS 
BEGUN TO SWEEP AWAY THE DETRITUS OF  TOO MANY YEARS OF POOR THINKING 
AND BLATANT CRONYISM.  GOOD.  I LIKE A NICE CLEAN KITCHEN . . . I MEAN 
A NICE CLEAN GOVERNMENT.]

The motion passed 4-3 after Chaney, overseeing her first business as 
mayor, cast the deciding vote.

Meanwhile, attorney Greg Dickison, who represents New St. Andrews 
College in downtown Moscow, shook his head in amazement.

"This was absolutely all about New St. Andrews," Dickison told them 
Lewiston Tribune. "If New St. Andrews wasn't located downtown, this 
never would have come up.  It's the only entity affected by what 
they've just done."

[YES, GREG DICKISON, AND THE SUN RISES IN THE EAST AND SETS IN THE 
WEST.  AS FAR AS I KNOW, NEW ST. ANDREWS IS THE ONLY EDUCATIONAL 
INSTITUTION ILLEGALLY LOCATED IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT.  NO, 
WAIT -- THERE IS ALSO ATLAS SCHOOL LOCATED IN THE NU-ART, BUT MY 
UNDERSTANDING IS THAT IN A PIECE OF "I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE MEANING OF 
IS IS," THE CITY'S BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT HAS FOUND THAT TOBY SUMPTER'S 
SCHOOL IS NOT A SCHOOL.  ALTHOUGH ATLAS CALLS ITSELF A SCHOOL, AND ITS 
STUDENTS WEAR SCHOOL UNIFORMS, AND THEY TAKE "CLASSES" FROM "TEACHERS," 
IT REALLY IS A CO-OP.   OR A BATH TUB.  OR THE QUEEN MOTHER.  OR A 
COELECANTH.  PERHAPS THE B.O.A.  IS CHANNELING MONTY PYTHON?  ATLAS 
SCHOOL IS SPELT ATLAS SCHOOL, BUT IT'S PRONOUNCED THROAT-WARBLER 
MANGROVE.]

Then the council tabled the issue, only to come back two hours later to 
reconsider Ament's motion with Chaney this time turning everything 
around by casting the deciding vote against the moratorium.

There has been a running zoning debate here about whether New St. 
Andrews, a liberal arts faith-based institution with about 150 
students, should have been allowed to locate downtown adjacent to 
Friendship Square. The old council, by allowing for conditional-use 
permits, left the door opened for New St. Andrews to remain.

But a moratorium on permits might have made the college's future less 
clear. In the end, Chaney said she switched her vote because she wasn't 
comfortable with imposing a moratorium without first giving a 15-day 
notice for a public hearing on the issue. The six city council members 
stuck with their original votes -- Ament, Stout and John Dickinson 
favored the measure, while Weber, Pall and Bill Lambert were opposed.

Many political observers have said the November election signaled a 
swing back to the political left in city government here. Weber and 
Lambert, at the time, said they feared they were the only conservatives 
left. But Pall, standing by the old council's actions on 
conditional-use permits as sound, sided with the two, thus putting 
Chaney in the middle.

Ament said the moratorium was necessary so council members could 
further discuss the ramifications of issuing conditional-use permits to 
educational institutions. He said the downtown business sector should 
be reserved for business and that issues, like parking, were important 
to the public.

"If there is any peril, it's moving forward with a flawed ordinance," 
Ament said.

[AMEN, MR. AMENT!]

But Pall said the previous council discussed the issue diligently, took 
public comment and made a sound decision.  She called Ament's move a 
"wrong-headed motion" that had instantly and unnecessarily placed the 
new council at odds.

[THE PREVIOUS CITY COUNCIL RACED THE ORIGINAL ORDINANCE THROUGH AS IF 
IT WERE SEABISCUIT AT THE PREAKNESS.  CONCERNS ABOUT PARKING, THE 
EFFECTS ON DOWNTOWN RETAIL, AND OPENING THE DOOR TO OTHER 
NON-CONFORMING USES WERE SWEPT ASIDE IN THE UNSEEMLY RACE TO ACT, AND 
THE THREE-READINGS REQUIREMENT WAS WAVED.  IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE OLD 
CITY COUNCIL, KNOWING THAT CHANGE WAS AFOOT, WANTED TO SAIL THAT 
ORDINANCE THROUGH BEFORE THE PREVAILING WINDS CHANGED AND THE POOH-BAHS 
OF NSA FOUND THEMSELVES FLOATING IN THE DOLDRUMS.

SO, WHO'S TO BLAME FOR ACTING HASTILY, FOR ATTEMPTING TO IMPOSE ITS 
DEPOSED WILL ON THE FUTURE CITY COUNCIL?  MARSHALL COMSTOCK, PEG 
HAMLETT, JOANN MACK, JON KIMBERLING AND -- THOUGH IT PAINS ME TO WRITE 
THIS -- LINDA PALL.  REMEMBER THAT OLD SONG, "WON'T YOU COME HOME, BILL 
BAILEY?"  WON'T YOU COME HOME, LINDA PALL?  WON'T YOU COME HOME?]

Chaney and the council members are scheduled to go on a retreat Sunday 
and Monday to, as Pall described it, deal "with how to become a team."

[AS MY DEAR FRIEND MARY JANE ONCE SAID, "THERE IS NO 'I' IN TEAM, BUT 
THERE IS IN 'KISS MY ASS.'" THERE IS ALSO AN 'I' IN 'WIN.'  IF THERE'S 
A LESSON TO BE LEARNED IN ALL OF THIS, PERHAPS IT'S THIS: DON'T GLOAT 
ON YOUR BLOG ABOUT HAVING RECEIVED GOD'S FAVOR UNLESS YOU'RE SURE HE IS 
TRULY RESPONSIBLE FOR CITY COUNCIL VOTES IN MOSCOW, IDAHO, OR, IF YOU 
MUST GLOAT, THEN MAKE SURE THAT THE AFOREMENTIONED GOD-APPROVED VOTES 
ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THE DEMOCRATIC WILL OF THE PEOPLE.]
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