When Mayor David Miller’s blue ribbon Fiscal Review Panel reported out in February, it took the wind out of the sails of Council’s conservative opposition. The Panel took several concepts from the opposition’s playbook, massaged them into something more politically, fiscally and operationally palatable, and offered the Mayor an avenue to implement the ideas without acknowledging his opponents on Council.
The opposition seemed stumped when the report [PDF] first came out. How could these councillors oppose ideas that had so many similarities to their own? For the most part they swallowed their words and sat quietly, preferring to focus their attention on a speedy implementation of the FRP recommendations while occasionally griping that their ideologically-driven reforms (such as contracting out en masse) hadn’t made the cut.
The Miller Administration’s response to the report was to request City Manager Shirley Hoy study the recommendations the Mayor supports and report through Executive Committee on all of those items in a phased approach that supports implementation (for example, they may be of the opinion that governance issues need to be tackled first).
By mid-March, word was circulating that the opposition had given the Millerites an ultimatum of sorts: Show signs of progress on implementation by the time the operating budget comes to Council or put up with the opposition dragging the FRP recommendations on to the floor of Council piecemeal.
That’s exactly what Councillor Karen Stintz did at Monday’s Council meeting to approve the 2008 operating budget. The midtown councillor moved that the City begin drawing up a rolling five-year operating budget, the same way it does the capital budget, starting in 2009. It’s in the FRP report, it makes sense and it’s assumed that this is one of the FRP recommendations Mayor Miller supports.
In the end, however, Councillor Stintz’s motion was ruled out of order (along with many other motions from other councillors) because it (and the others) sought to change policy rather than amend the budget Council was considering. Instead, Speaker Sandra Bussin suggested to Councillor Stintz that she take her motion to Executive Committee. It was the same friendly advice she gave to most other motions that were ruled out of order but if Councillor Stintz takes Speaker Bussin up on her offer, things could get a little messy for Mayor Miller.
If the FRP recommendations are forced on to Council or Executive Committee agendas ad hoc by the opposition, the Miller Administration will have to decide whether to be seen as holding up recommendations of its own blue ribbon panel or reforming City finances piecemeal. Neither are attractive options.
Assuming the Millerites want to keep control of this issue, they’ll need to get out in front of it. One way to do that would be laying down timelines so the public knows when to expect certain reports. Once timelines are established, labeling opposition motions on this matter obstructionist will be a piece of cake.
Photograph by Sam Javanrouh.
