Council Update

Here's some Common Council happenings:

1. We had a special meeting tonight to discuss the creation of new boards and commissions. We reached consensus on the following:
*Mayor Tower will approach former Oshkosh mayors about their willingness to be involved in a Commission on Poverty. After their involvement is secured, more time will be spent trying to give focus to the Commission.
*My ideas for a Budget Committee and Street Repair Commission may become part of a revived Citizens' Advisory Committee (The CAC was disbanded some time ago when it stopped being the body that made recommendations on how to disperse Community Development Block Grant funding. Councilor Esslinger believes that the CAC should once again have that role, but no decision on that was made at the special meeting.).
*My other proposal was for the development of an Economic Development Commission. By consensus we decided that we should first hold an Economic Development Summit (Mayor Tower's idea). One possible outcome of that Summit could be the development of a formal Commission.
*Bryan Bain proposed two new bodies that received much favorable feedback: a Waterways Committee and and "Oshkosh Council" that would bring together officials from the Council, School Board, County Board, and other governmental units. The Waterways Committee was especially well received because the current responsibility for water currently rests with an over burdened Parks Department.
*IMPORTANT: It turns out the the city already has an "Energy and Environment Advisory Board" on the books. This is the perfect vehicle from which to bring forth proposals for Sustainable Oshkosh. Nine citizens will be appointed to the Board. If you are interested in serving, please contact me or Mayor Tower (ftower@ci.oshkosh.wi.us) immediately.

2. Councilor Dennis McHugh, who voted in the majority to amend the Akcess Acquisition Group waterfront term sheet, is apparently going to ask that the resolution be reconsidered at next Tuesday's meeting. My assumption is that McHugh would have voted differently if, at the time of the vote, he had knowledge of the 100 block fiasco.

3. McHugh has also called for a closed executive session after next Tuesday's meeting to discuss the city manager's performance. Here too, it is probably the handling of the 100 block situation that led to the call. As noted by Cheryl Hentz, the handling of that situation fits a pattern that continues to frustrate councilors who cannot do their (our) jobs without complete information delivered in a timely fashion, while at the same time angering a public that made it clear in the last election that transparency and openness should be the rule and not the exception in city hall.

Should be an interesting next couple of weeks as the council wrestles with how to ensure accountability in city hall. Stay tuned.