Mallory asks Crowley to serve on rule-making body

When the Rules and Government Operations Committee of City Council meets for the first time today, it will have tripartisan representation made up of a core group that Mayor Mark Mallory hand-picked to help him organize City Council: Democrat Jeff Berding, Charterite Chris Bortz and Republican Chris Monzel -- plus Democrat Laketa Cole.

And it will have a last-minute addition to the committee lineup: David C. Crowley. Crowley, of course, is the third-term Democrat who locked horns with the mayor over rules and committee assignments -- the very jurisdiction of the Rules and Government Operations Committee -- even before the new council was sworn in.

That Crowley was not originally supposed to be on the committee is clear from the report itself. His name appears to be typed in after the report of the Rules & Government Operations Committee was already written and signed:

Crowley said Mallory asked him to serve on the committee during the inaugural ceremonies last Thursday -- just minutes before Crowley took to the floor to criticize Mallory's decision to strip him of his chairmanship of a committee.

"He came over to me, and poked me on the shoulder," Crowley said. "That surprised me that he did," Crowley said. "I decided I do want to be on that committee. I think that's going to be a committee that's going to be a traffic control device."

(In fact, it's unclear whether Crowley's name was on the report when City Council voted on it. A copy of the report was not provided to the press at City Council's Dec. 1 organizational meeting, and it wasn't available from the Clerk of Council's office until late Friday -- more than 24 hours after it was adopted. And it's also unclear how the Rules Committee could have made the report to City Council if it never officially met.)

Crowley said he sees the overture as something of an olive branch. "I see that as positive," he said. "He didn't have to ask me."

Crowley said a number of intermediaries -- council members, lobbyists and party leaders -- have offered to mediate a reconciliation between the two Democrats. "There have been a half-a dozen offers. I have merely said I am always willing to talk to anybody," he said.

And when he does, he said he may also reconsider his decision to leave other council Democrats -- everyone but Cole -- out of the decision of who would replace him if he dies or leaves office.
"When I cool down, I'll take another look at it," he said.

• Read the list of committees, their members and jurisdictions in the full Rules and Government Operations Committee report.