No News, But Some Sunshine At City Hall

City Council's meeting lasted, oh, 5 minutes today. The most anybody had to say about anything was during the Sunshine Committee report.

That's Mayor Mark Mallory's designation for Jeff Berding - chairman of the Sunshine Committe. That means Jeff notes birthdays, etc.

Today, Berding thanked Cecil Thomas for "captaining" a City Hall basketball team that beat a police team Saturday in a fund-raising game for the United Negro College Fund. Mallory said he was "proud that none of you were injured, because you're old." David Crowley said he was just happy he ran up and down the court several times without getting exhausted.

Leslie Ghiz announced that Berding's getting married. "Somone grabbed at him," she said. "It's great." No announced date for his marriage to Lindsay Bumbaugh.

Other random stuff from 801 Plum St.:

1. Thomas said he's thinking about suggesting that council members get four-year terms, instead of two-year ones. He said it's just too hectic to have to campaign so often. He's going to ask around and see if there's any support among his colleagues for the idea.

2. Two Mallory staffers are gearing up for Sunday's Flying Pig Marathon. Ryan Adcock has run several marathons. This is Jason Barron's first.

3. Chris Monzel planned to take a tour today of the center that takes calls to 591-6000, the city's general service number. His office has gotten some complaints about how the place resolves calls and how fast.


4. A motion from Berding: to tell City Manager Milton Dohoney and the Office of Environmental Quality to report on the feasibility of an anti-idling policy for all applicable city vehicles. He also wants to track how much gas goes into each vehicle and the vehicle's mileage, to figure out what cars in what fleet are gas hogs and if there's anything that can be done about it.

5. Also from Berding (is he trying to steal Monzel's overflowing trash can issue?) made a motion to direct the administration to make it a "top priority" to empty those corner trash can smore frequently. The motion also asks for a report on the cost of more frequent emptying of cans in high-traffic areas like downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Mount Adams and the CUF neighborhoods.
These photos, taken by Berding aide Shawn Baker, helped prompt the motion: