Young gets rattled at council meeting
If you're looking for a little excitement on Monday evenings, don't turn on the TV, just come down to City Hall for a council meeting.
It seems as if there's always drama at the meetings, whether protests from union leaders or business owners, or the members squabbling among themselves.
Longtime Councilman Bernard C. "Jack" Young promised to tone down his trademark fiery temper when he became council president in February.
But he got his hackles up last night after council members teased him as he counted votes on a referendum, introduced at the request of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration, that would allow the city to make more purchases without public announcement.
Councilman Robert W. Curran said something unintelligible to Young from his seat in the first row of the council chambers.
Young shot back, "I can count very good. Look at my bank account book and look at yours."
He went back to counting votes and became flustered again. "Bobby Curran got me all twisted up," he said.
Later, Young's staff doled out birthday gifts to several council members, including Curran. "Make sure you count everything in the bag," he told Curran.
At the end of the meeting, Councilman Nicholas D'Adamo rose to speak. "Thank you, Madame President," he said, addressing Young with a feminine title for at least the third time in recent weeks.
Said Young: "Should I say something to you like I did to Bobby about counting?"
Comments
"I can count very good. Look at my bank account book and look at yours."
Meaning Young has padded HIS account with taxpayers funds more than Curran has?
Posted by: Anonymous | August 10, 2010 3:44 PM
And this is our council president? WHen will he bang a shoe on his desk?
Posted by: Anonymous | August 10, 2010 9:05 PM
This guy sounds brilliant. I am sure he will also reinvent government by counting the number of employees per thousand city residents and adjusting appropriately which includes the number of middle mangers, etc. that may no longer be needed.
The usual approach to cutting expenses is to get rid of people who actually do something such as cleaning, inspecting dilapidated housing and so on.
Posted by: Bob Kean | August 10, 2010 10:08 PM