Go Ahead, Tax My Food

The pre-election timing of this effort is surprising, but I'm glad someone finally took the initiative to propose including a local meal tax on city restaurants, particularly if the money were used to maintain the streets and sidewalks of the downtown.

Daily News article here. Ward 4 Councilor Ed Cameron, the electorally unopposed proposer, also writes on it here in his blog.

Let's be frank here. We have some nice restaurants in town, a few really nice ones. But I'm not sure we have anything good enough to draw people from far and away.

What draws people here is the location, the downtown, the ability to enjoy a great meal and walk the boardwalk or visit the downtown shops.

I say it's perfectly reasonable to tack a small tax onto the meals being served in those restaurants to maintain the infrastructure that visitors--and us locals--like so much. I'm all for earmarking the funds for improvements downtown. Bricks will start to give away. Boardwalks will wear down. Things will need to be replaced and it'd be nice to have a dedicated stream to take care of those things.

I'm sure the fear is this revenue will get lost in the flood of tax money and go toward other city services (like a school...gasp!). But I'm guessing--since it's the only sales tax collected by the city--that the totals will be fairly easy to track. But I might be wrong on that.

I'm against, however, using this money to bolster any chamber marketing campaign as Ann Ormond suggests in the Daily News article. I'd like the extra money I'm paying to go toward paying for something tangible and visible like infrastructure.

It will be the subject of the council's Tuesday meeting.

INCOMING!

Watching the Council on TV.

A fellow just submitted a petition requesting resident only parking for the streets surrounding the YWCA, saying the current system is untenable. The request was referred to the public safety committee.

This should be interesting. This City needs a comprehensive parking plan, and it needs it soon.



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Not a good idea

I'm dealing with a mess of the morning that involved a ride to Logan and back. Plus a deadline, but I did want to issue one quick comment.

What the heck?

I'm referring of course to the private meeting between the City Council and Steve Karp prior to the public gathering. Read about it here. (BTW, why does the headline in the paper say "meet privately" and the web article says "in secret?" It's not a secret. It's in the paper, after all.)

The meeting has been arranged by the Mayor, according to the article.

First off, I'd say this absolutely constitutes a violation of the open meeting law. This isn't a social gathering. Karp isn't coming to town to make friends. He's here to talk business. Even if the dialogue at this point is an informal, it's still a business call.

So just post the damn meeting. What's the big deal? Oh right, then the public would be allowed in.

And that's the point! I'm sure the councilors will abide by the bizarre suggestion that they "adhere strictly to the rules that this is a social gathering to personally meet members of New England Development without deliberation and specific questions regarding business." But I'm a fairly reasonable person when baseball isn't involved. Others might not be so kind. Why raise questions?

Also, if they can't talk business what will they discuss? The weather? Whether Josh Beckett really hurt his back or is he just ducking out of a trip to Japan? The traffic on Route 1 in Saugus at 5:30 p.m.? But what is the point of meeting Karp and the team if they can't talk about the waterfront, even indirectly

I'm not suggesting there's anything dishonest going on. I'm sure those councilors attending, and not all are, have the best intentions. I'm not worried about a secret deal getting done or anything of the sort. But is this kind of meeting really necessary? As a voter, I don't need our councilors to privately meet Steve Karp. Quite the contrary, I'd rather they keep an arm's length so any proposal can be viewed in a dispassionate way. Or, if there is a bias, make sure it's tilted toward the voters.

Plus, I suspect city councilors would have been rushed to the front of the receiving line once the actual meet and greet starts. And I would have been fine with that. Shove the planning board up there too. I get it.

But I dispute the notion that strict adherence to the open meeting law would confine a councilor to their home in fear of bumping into five or six others in a social setting. It's one thing to bump into each other at a chamber breakfast, where members of the public, if they're chamber members, are free to come and go. It's quite another to intentionally collect in a small room with the most powerful man in town. No matter how short a visit.

One councilor suggests as a major land owner Karp is a constituent and the council should be allowed to meet with constituents. Karp isn't a constituent by my definition or any one else's.

Citizen residing within the district of a legislator.

A resident of a legislator's district.

One that authorizes another to act as a representative on his/her behalf.

A constituent is someone who can or does appoint or elect (and often by implication can also remove or recall) another as their agent or representative.

In short, Karp and his team don't vote in this town.

I'm still going into the meeting with good feelings and high hopes. But this one is a bit of a head scratcher. It might be wise to post it or pull the plug.

Nice Start

Incidentally, I thought this was a worthwhile excercise by the council. I'm sure it gets them better focused but it also gives me an idea where the interest of each councilor lies.

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I can hear you now.

Audio on the City Council broadcast seemed much, much better. Also, it was also great to actually see the PowerPoint presentation Councilors Cameron, Holaday and Jones made last night.

Thanks for clearing up those technical difficulties.

The City Council Show-Results!

Although I was a little disappointed no one picked up the gauntlet I so weakly tossed down earlier this week, our new Council President James Shanley checked in to say he's working on the audio problem.

Excellent news. Thanks.

Stay tuned. Newburyport Posts will be holding a fund-raiser to cover the costs of purchasing and installing the buzzers and piano.

The City Council Show

So last night I plopped down on the couch and turned on the local cable network to watch the New Council in action.

Ten minutes later or so, something went kablooey. Couldn't watch the rest of the meeting.

I surfed until I hit a documentary "Television Pioneers." (God, what will it take for me to crack open a damn book. I'm embarrassed.) Anyway, I learned all about how Johnny Carson and Company changed late-night TV. It was a bit over-the-top. These guys didn't exactly cure polio.

Well, I woke up this morning with these two titillating TV experiences swirling around my head.

Here are the painful result.

Top 10 Ways to Improve the City Council Broadcast

10) Better Audio. Not really a joke here, but I can't hear anyone.

9) Councilors must race to ring buzzers to get recognized by the President.

8) Establish a panel of ex-City Councilors for pre-game and post-game discussion filled with yucks and hijinx.

7) Council President Needs Musical Sidekick. Perhaps City Clerk Richard Jones could play the piano?

6) Spice up the new seat selection process by placing an idol under one of the chairs. Holder of the idol is immune from next municipal election.

5) Did I mention the audio.

4) Oprah.

3) Three Words: Wheel of Override.

2) Hire better writers.

And the number one way to improve the Council Broadcasts

1) I leave this one to our clever commenters.

New Year, New Poll

For once I'll shut up and let the voters do the talking. I'll give my two cents once the poll has closed.

Goal-setting time

How often do I start with this line?

Stephen Tait does a nice job today in The Daily News covering the seismic shift in the council. As noted a few posts ago, the election of this new council reflects a shift in attidudes of the general populace--and a shift in the populace itself with new folks like myself moving into town and wondering why completing Big Dig took has taken less time than finishing the central waterfront.

This new council has the potential to really break some logjams in this city. Ward 3 Councilor James Shanley summed it up nicely a few days ago when he said. "I think this is potentially going to be a fabulous council," he said. "All I can say is fasten your seat belts."

But what will it get done. And, more importantly, what should it get done?

Like any employer--and they do, afterall, work for us--folks really need to stop and take measure for a moment. What does this council need to accomplish over the next two years to be successful? We should be realistic in our expectations, but we should lay them out as clearly as we can so our new and returning employees (or represenatives if you prefer) know what to shoot for when they start up in Jan.

I've got ideas on this subject which I'll present on Monday or Tuesday along with a poll that will enable you folks to rank the goals on their importance to you. But this is your chance to get your own ideas on the table. Submit your ideas through the comments page and I'll include them on the Monday post and perhaps in the poll as well.

Councilors and councilors-elect are free to chime in as well. It'd be a nice opportunity for you to lay out what your personal goals are as well.

Then we'll all be on the same page when the fun starts in January.

A Good Sign

Gardiner Bacon and I agree on at least one thing. Campaign lawn signs are pretty heinous and usually useless.

Note that I said usually.

Kudos to City Councilor-at-Large Candidate Kathleen Ives for putting a fresh twist on the campaign design. See picture.

Not that this will convince me to vote for her. I'm more likely to support someone who has lived in town longer than I have (one year.) But I did find her Web site. I'll give it a read, and I'll consider.

And I'll post a blog item that no one is likely to read.