It’s a holiday, so enjoy your day off and remember to thank your city council members. We will be back on Wednesday with a new podcast interview. But in the meantime–hey, did you read EVERY council meeting review in December? Including the one with the border wall around the city council?
If not, you can do your part to Make America Great Again by browsing the month in review. And as always, you can listen to the regular and bonus podcast episodes (22 in all) on iTunes, Stitcher, and Player FM.
Hey, City Councilheads! Today we debut a special, semi-regular feature called “Best Thing, Worst Thing.” (No, it’s not about the election.) For an explanation of the project, check out the page here. If you like storytelling and municipal lore, I think you’ll dig what the chef cooked up.
To dive right in, head over to the City Council Chronicles podcast and download the latest episode. Or you can play it below.
Castle Rock is a town of 56,000 people located in Douglas County, 30 miles south of Denver. It is named after a distinct rock formation at the north end of the historic downtown. Outside of downtown, there are also several office parks, subdivisions, and the Outlets retail area. Castle Rock’s population is largely wealthy and white. Historically, Douglas County has been rural–home to ranchers. In the last several decades, it has grown dramatically as a Denver suburb. In this episode, we hear from a businesswoman, a pastor, a former Navy SEAL, and the town’s mayor.
A huge, HUGE thank you to the folks at WUNC radio in North Carolina for having me on “The State of Things” this afternoon to talk about the exciting world of city council meetings!
If you were one of the unfortunate souls to miss it for a silly reason like “not living in North Carolina,” you can listen to it here!
After last week’s Fort Wayne city council meeting, I had some questions. And who better to ask than the lucky S.O.B. who gets to watch EVERY Fort Wayne city council meeting: Journal Gazette reporter (and high school friend of mine) Dave Gong.
He talked to me about surprises, being fair, and his reaction to a salty-mouthed councilman.
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Q: On a scale of “fun” to “extremely fun,” how would you describe the council meetings?
A: Extremely fun…they are the highlight of my week.
Q: Noted! No sarcasm! What are you watching and listening for at these meetings?
A: Pretty much everything. You listen for back-and-forth and pointed arguments and the whole deal. Part of politics is we love a good show. Especially the media–we love a good show.
Q: Are there some councilmen whom you can depend on to say something…”out there?”
A: Well, “out there,” yeah. There are councilmen who are very consistent. Sometimes they’ll surprise you, which is always great. I like to be surprised.
Q: How do they generally treat each other?
A: Actually, to be honest–pretty well. I read your thing about Baltimore—
Q: Yeah, that was wacky. Some of them visibly can’t stand each other.
A: They get that way. All city councilmen are like that when you’ve got ideologies–they clash. One guy will be insulting another one week and they’ll be best of friends the next. Fort Wayne, Indiana is one of the most functional cities I’ve ever worked in.
Q: Are they pretty friendly with you?
A: I think they know I can be fair with them. You’ll get reporters and outlets that specific councilmen don’t like. As far as I know, no one has ever told me that they absolutely hate me. Generally if you’re a journalist, someone somewhere hates you.
Q: Did I seem cool in high school?
A: Yeah…as cool as any of the rest of us were in high school. I don’t remember any of us going to a bunch of parties. There was a lot of laser tag.
Q: Mmhmm.
A: Whatever my judge of “cool” is, it’s probably wrong….But from my standpoint, you were f*cking awesome.
Q: What’s the weirdest thing that you’ve seen happen?
A: That’s a hard one. Ninety percent of them are super mundane. After the election in November, the council was even more Republican. This guy got up and he starts railing about how all the Democrats are socialists and the Republicans should show backbone. And [Councilman] Glynn Hines, through his hands, coughed “BULLSH*T” into his hot mic.
Q: Whoa!
A: In other places–you go to Chicago–you see swearing on the floor. I saw lawmakers, state elected lawmakers hurling insults at each other. But in Fort Wayne, that was unconscionable. It spurred a blog post from me–because I like that sort of crap–caused public apologies, and it was…beautiful, actually.
Q: Do you ever gossip about the councilmen to other reporters?
A: Sometimes. Paul Ensley was wearing a bow tie the other day and kind of looked like Pee-wee Herman.
Q: I saw that! So creepy.
A: He’s a fun one. He beat a 12-year incumbent in the primary.
Q: Are you gonna go to the reunion?
A: I’ve been on that alumni website and–
Q: No one told me about that…
A: …I imagine somebody will call.
Q: …
Follow Dave Gong on Twitter: @DGong89
Big day for City Council Chronicles: it’s our first interview with a living, breathing, city council member!
And this isn’t just any John Q. Councilor. I talked to Baltimore’s own Rochelle “Rikki” Spector, who has been a city councilwoman for nearly 40 jaw-dropping years. Naturally, being from Charm City, she was off-the-charts friendly. She told me all about double-crossers, power struggles, and city hall’s comfy cushions.
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Q: When you first got on city council, did you ever think you’d be there 40 years?
A: I never thought I’d be the longest serving–living–local elected official in the history of Maryland.
Q: I couldn’t find any council member who’s been serving longer than you. Do you think you might be the longest-serving in the whole country?
A: I don’t know about the country. I know in Maryland, one of my colleagues thought it was him. And he did research and found out it was me!
Q: How well do you get along with the other council members?
A: I get tremendous respect from my colleagues.
Q: I mean, when the cameras are on, it seems like everyone is nice to each other. But statistically, it’s impossible for coworkers to get along all of the time. Is there anyone who gets under your skin?
A: Oh, yes. I have a colleague that–and this is just between you and me…[REDACTED: ALL THE GOOD PARTS]…you don’t leave your constituents.
Q: Have you ever been blindsided by someone who said in private they’d support something but then they turn around–
A: Oh, yes! I once had a councilperson say to me that he was going to support a bill, and then he voted against it. And I went over to him–totally, totally amazed–and I said, “I can’t believe that you lied to me!” He said, “So I lied.”
Q: Oh no.
A: That person’s not on the council now. But I have no regard for him. It’s almost an affront to your intelligence, “so I lied.”
Q: How many people show up to watch the city council meetings?
A: We have a double chamber. We have a balcony upstairs. Every seat is always taken.
Q: Is there anything strange that has happened at a city council meeting?
A: Well, I hope you’ll watch tomorrow night–
Q: I will now!
A: There are two charter amendments that the council has approved that the mayor has vetoed. Tomorrow is the last meeting whether the members want to override the mayor’s veto. And there would need to be 12 members voting to override.
Q: Gimme a prediction, councilwoman. What’ll happen?
A: I do believe the mayor’s veto will stand.
Q: What a power struggle! I’ll tune in. Speaking of which, I know that Washington, D.C. and Baltimore have a rivalry. Who would win in a pickup basketball game: the D.C. council or the Baltimore city council?
A: The Baltimore council, of course.
Q: Which is better: the Washington Nationals or the Baltimore Orioles?
A: The Baltimore Orioles, of course!
Q: What are the chairs like in your council chamber? Are they comfortable?
A: We have leather, upholstered swivel chairs that are very comfortable.
Q: Those sound amazing. I’ve seen city council meetings where it’s like a middle school cafeteria with metal chairs and folding tables. I’m glad Baltimore spares no expense.
A: We spend a lot of time in those chairs. I work nine days a week! It’s a calling, not a job.
Website: Baltimore, MD Councilwoman Rochelle “Rikki” Spector
City Council Chronicles 