Overheard at Cincinnati City Council

Councilmen (from left) Chris Monzel, David Crowley, David Pepper and Jim Tarbell discuss Tuesday's election. Members of Cincinnati City Council gathered for their regular meeting the day after the election that saw expansive change sweep through city administration with the election of a new mayor and several council members turned out by voters. (Photo by Michael E. Keating/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

There's never much legislating that goes on the day after an election, mostly because City Council's committees take the week off. But it's always fun to eavesdrop as council members do a little gloating, a little consoling and a little joking around....

• "How did you like anchoring the news? Was it fun?" -- Councilman David Pepper, asking Mayor Charlie Luken for career advice. ("I didn't like the hours," was Luken's response.)
  
  
• "If there's a criticism of you that's not valid, it's that you're dangling a silver spoon. You're a very hard worker." Councilman David Crowley, to Pepper.
  
  
• "I have the heart of a champion, and as Arnold Schwarzenegger says, I will be back." -- Councilman Sam Malone.
  
  
• "I've been up and down, and it's good to be up again." -- Councilman Chris Monzel.
  
  
• "You rode your mother's coattails." -- Luken to John Cranley, who got 4,113 fewer votes in the city than Susan Cranley did in her first run for Cincinnati Board of Education.