So, you may have already read this on my facebook, but in case you haven’t . . . this was crazy, it took an hour and 40 minutes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you . . .
My computer wasn’t working (it is now, I hope), so I did my facebook post on my phone . . . and although I knew it was going to be interesting, I didn’t quite expect this . . .
COUNCIL PRESIDENT VOTE
Note: They go into a “committee of the whole” when they do this, so only the council participates (not the mayor) and then when they are done and figure out what they are doing, they go back to the council meeting and reaffirm everything they did in the committee of the whole. Part of the issue here is that the committee of the whole is a majority vote but the council takes 11 votes, regardless of who is absent. Last night, David Ahrens was absent, making getting to 11 votes 1 vote more difficult.
Nominations:
Shiva Bidar is chairing this portion of the meeting, Denise DeMarb stepped down.
– Amanda Hall nominates Maurice Cheeks, Marsha Rummel seconds.
– Sarah Eskrich nominates Denise DeMarb, Steve King seconds.
– Paul Skidmore nominates Mike Verveer, Rummel seconds.
Note: Up until a week ago, everyone thought Maurice Cheeks was running for President and Marsha Rummel was running for Pro Tem. Last Thursday, DeMarb announced she was running for a second term. Surprising alot of people, including Maurice Cheeks!
Speeches:
Cheeks did a very eloquent speech talking about how he tries to get people to step up into leadership all the time and saying he can’t step aside or “wait”.
DeMarb never really explained why she should serve a second term, except she wants to continue her work and she is just finding her legs as council president.
Verveer didn’t want to do this . . . he’s done it three times before, he knows what it is. He didn’t ask anyone to vote for him, he was drafted. He has no prepared remarks, but says that leadership should be shared. He says half the body asked him to do this.
Voting
Voting for this is by secret ballot. No one else spoke about who they wanted as president. So the clerk distributed the ballots.
Ballot one: Cheeks 4, DeMarb 7, Verveer 8
Ballot two: Cheeks 4, DeMarb 7, Verveer 8
Rebecca Kemble asks attorney May to explain how the voting works in the committee of the whole (I explained above), he does. Essentially, they need 11 votes once they get to the council.
Ballot three: Cheeks 3, DeMarb 6, Verveer 10
Ballot four: Cheeks 4, DeMarb 7, Verveer 8 (starting to sound familiar?)
Ballot five: Cheeks 2, DeMarb 7, Verveer 10
Ballot six: Cheeks 2, DeMarb 7, Verveer 10
Larry Palm suggests Instant Runoff Voting (an electoral system whereby voters rank candidates in order of preference. In the event that one candidate fails to achieve a sufficient majority, the candidate with the fewest number of first-preference rankings is eliminated and these votes redistributed, the process being repeated until one candidate achieves the required majority.) The city attorney is confused by this, can’t explain it. They vote it down. Only Palm and Cheeks vote for that idea. I missed what Samba said, but I think it had something to do with changing the rules in the middle of voting. Shari Carter says she wants to stick with tradition – but if that were the case, Denise wouldn’t have caused this mess.
Ballot seven (they ran out of ballots, using the Pro Tem ballots): Cheeks 2, DeMarb 8, Verveer 9
Ballot eight: Cheeks 2, DeMarb 8, Verveer 9
Ballot nine (new ballots have arrived): Cheeks 3, DeMarb 7, Verveer 9
Clear calls for a 5 minute recess. Kemble objects and says they can’t take a recess in the middle of voting. The motion fails.
Ballot ten: Cheeks 3, DeMarb 6, Verveer 9
Ballot eleven: Cheeks 3, DeMarb 7, Verveer 9
Phair moves a 5 minute recess. Motion fails again.
Ballot twelve:
King suggests they vote 3 points for their top vote, 2 points for their second, 1 point for their last vote. The person who gets to 58 votes would win. Marsha Rummel asks if they can put all their points on one candidate. King says no. Kemble asks if you have to vote all three times. King says yes, otherwise your ballot would be rejected. Eskrich says she is opposed to changing the rules in the middle of voting. This too, fails
Ballot twelve: Cheeks 1, DeMarb 8, Verveer 10
Gruber recommends with Verveer at 10, they call him the next council president, lots of chatter about the process, Gruber’s motion fails on a roll call, 15 – 4.
Ballot thirteen: Cheeks 2, DeMarb 7, Verveer 10
Samba Baldeh moves that they table this and vote on Pro Tem, that doesn’t even get a second.
Ballot fourteen: Cheeks 1, DeMarb 8, Verveer 10
Clear moves a 4 minute recess, it fails. The voice votes are getting closer to allowing the recess but Bidar rules that it fails.
Ballot fifteen: Cheeks 1, DeMarb 7, Verveer 11
The room breaks out in a cheer from the audience.
NOW they get a 5 minute recess!!
COUNCIL PRO TEM
When they return from the break, Bidar steps down from the chair (a little foreshadowing here) and Clear chairs this part of the committee of the whole.
Nominations:
Skidmore nominates Marsha Rummel and there were three or four seconds.
Denise DeMarb nominates Shiva Bidar and a couple people second that. (Ok, this one I didn’t see coming until she stepped down from the chair . . . )
Speeches:
Marsha Rummel has been running for this seat all along, this is no surprise. She talks about her nearly 10 years on the council, dealing with contentious neighborhood issues and that she is a good communicator which they don’t do enough of. She says they need someone who can find a way forward.
Shiva Bidar says she was not expecting to be nominated, says the council has to come together and she can work with Mike Verveer. She is running to be a servant leader. (Funny, when Mike says that, he actually pulls it off, when Bidar says it, I don’t think its believable given her agenda against the Mayor.)
Voting:
One ballot. Bidar 8, Rummel 11
CONFIRMING THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
They go out of the committee of the whole, back into session of the council and first they vote on Verveer and it is unanimous on a voice vote, then they vote on Rummel and it is unanimous on a voice vote.
Clear thanks the clerks, they go back to the council meeting and Mike steps in moving the agenda like the pro that he is . . . 4th time and all . .. honestly, I admire him for stepping in to this steaming pile of crap. It’s going to be an interesting year, I predict the 8 that lost will continue to throw fits and it will come out in weird and wacky ways . . . with probably another deal made behind the scenes come budget time. This was a good vote for democracy, the secrecy and back room deals will at least not be coming from leadership.
And, how weird is this. TWO PROGRESSIVE DANE people in leadership . . . that would have never happened years ago . . . suddenly, we’re the sane ones. 🙂 Seriously, who knew. Of course, with this deeply divided council, this will be quite the challenge and I think only Verveer had to be the only answer.
I bet the mayor is happy this morning. Cuz I don’t think it would have gone well with either DeMarb or Cheeks. Sadly, it still won’t exactly go well, since he can be difficult, but there are ways to work with him when there is agreement.
Well, there you have it, messy, messy, messy. Expect the same this budget season.
Have these people never heard of ranked choice voting? Only 20 people qualify for the office, and more than half would probably withdraw from consideration before voting began. The whole thing could be done in 15 minutes, including a 10 minute coffee break while they double-count the ballots.