I was ringside at Iowa City's Connections City Council Kickoff Forum moderated by Carlton Blackburn held last evening at the spectacular urban renewed Hotel Vetro. As expected, three incumbents and one uncontested at-large candidate appeared. Seasoned veterans Mayor Ross Wilburn, Mayor Pro-Tem Regenia Bailey, and three-term council member Dee VanderHoef took the podium with relative political neophyte and hero of the keep electricity a private utility coalition, Terry Smith. Each waxed philosophical (Dee waxing a bit more than the others) about such issues as:- Opening statements with praise for the GLBT community (we love them, some of our best friends are GLBT...)
- TIF (Tax Incremental Financing = good, with judicious use)
- Affordable Housing (policy wonk VanderHoef enjoyed this one and mesmerized folks with thorough explanations about deed trusts--not)
- The 21 Ordinance ("we'll do what the people decide" was the popular favorite, though Wilburn and VanderHoef said they personally support the ordinance.)
- Health of Downtown ("mixed" answers, extolling the virtues of the "mix" and awaiting the results of a study about how to mix things better. Given the swanky digs we were in, I thought at least one would have gone with "shaken, not stirred". In a shocker, the word "vibrancy" was only used once by Bailey)
- The strangest question was about Wilburn and his former spouse and current councilor Amy Correia's relationship and whether it affected Wilburn's judgment. He gave a great Joe Biden-esque answer-- "no".
Other than a young African-American Obama local organizer being mistaken for the "hired help" at the cash bar, there was no hint of excitement. I left at 8:30.
Amenities: Great pastries and beverages--poor sound engineering
Forum Grade: C -
Winner: The pastries. No candidate hit it out of the park.
Non-winners: Dee VanderHoef - shorter answers are okay, save your policy details for the League of Cities (Moderator Carlton Blackburn - its your show, its okay to cut off a ten minute answer). Mayor Wilburn, for a guy who likes remind citizens that he doesn't address issues (like the anti-war resolution in 2002)that aren't local in nature, its probably not a good idea to sport the Obama button at a city council forum.
Rumor mill: Two other shadow candidates are theoretically hovering out there--if you are one of them, please get in the race, these folks deserve good, clean opposition. Where is Gary Sanders when you need him?
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