With Councilor Brad Winter absent, the Dec. 6 council meeting lasted just over two hours. Winter’s flight home was held up by bad weather in Chicago and Councilors deferred 14 bills along with the scheduled election of a new president. Winter is considered the leading presidential contender, certain of votes from Republican-realtor Councilors Sally Mayer, Craig Loy and Tina Cummins. Council President Michael Cadigan will support Winter, who supported the extension of Paseo del Norte in Cadigan’s district last year. If Councilor Miguel Gomez, who supported Cummins for vice president last year, tacks to the right again, Winter will receive at least six votes from the nine-member council.
Two competing bills establishing an Inspector General position were postponed. Councilor Eric Griego’s bill allows the Council greater say in picking board members who will control the oversight position, while Mayor Martin Chavez’s bill, carried by Sally Mayer, gives the mayor’s office the upper hand. Having finished all items by 7:15 p.m., with Winter somewhere over Oklahoma, current President Cadigan joked, “I want to be Vladimir Putin,” and adjourned the meeting.
Council Watch
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