Aldermen must be saving their twaddle for the big budget hearings, which begin tonight (see schedule below), because Tuesday’s City Council meeting started late and ended so early certain councilmen had time to enjoy a full meal at Saputo’s.
The one and only hot topic on the agenda was Ward 5 Alderman Joe Bartolomucci’s
proposal to place buoys across the “hot ditch” — the finger of Lake Springfield
where City Water, Light and Power discharges warm water. The spot is a favorite
with local fishermen.
Bartolomucci claimed the buoys would provide some protection from possible
terrorist tampering with the power plant. Mayor Tim Davlin countered with a
promise to add fencing, lights and security cameras.
Bartolomucci’s buoy idea didn’t float; the vote was 3-6, with only Judy Yeager
(Ward 7) and Bruce Strom (Ward 10) siding with Bartolomucci.
But no matter which side of the hot ditch debate you’re on, you’ve got to
admire the way the fisher-folk lobbied council. They showed up en masse and
presented a petition with almost 800 signatures. When cued — “Who is here about
the hot ditch issue?” — they raised their right hands with a unison precision
worthy of the Radio City Rockettes.
Otherwise, however — and here’s their stroke of genius — they observed the
silence of a cloistered convent. Instead of each fisherman seizing this opportunity
to experience 15 minutes of fame (albeit only on Municipal Channel 18), they
designated a single spokesman, Dr. Bob Vautrain.
Vautrain, chief medical director for Memorial Health Systems, is so unfamiliar
with city politics that he had never met Ward 1’s Frank Edwards, the alderman
who represents the Lake Springfield area. Yet, in his three appearances in council
chambers (once before the Utilities Committee, twice before the full council),
Vautrain proved himself a model citizen advocate: He kept his speeches under
five minutes, and focused on the meat of the matter instead of rhapsodizing
on his passion for bass fishing.
Best of all, he ended his brief soliloquies with literary excerpts presented
straight-faced, even though they weren’t possibly true. At Tuesday night’s council
meeting, he distributed a news article allegedly written by Ernest Hemingway
in 1921, comparing the ditch to the fine fishing off the coast of Cuba.
“People with no sense of humor might say this was before lake was built,”
Vautrain acknowledged.
In his previous Council appearance, he recited from Izaak Walton’s The
Compleat Angler: ” ‘Tis a poor government indeed that beleaguers its citizens
by obstructing hot water ditch angling in the misguided pursuit of the illusion
of security.” The Compleat Angler was written in 1653.
For the Utilities Committee, Vautrain used Herman Melville’s classic 1851
novel Moby Dick: “Drink, ye harpooneers! Drink and swear, ye men that
man the deathful whaleboat’s bow — Death to Moby Dick! And if perchance we fail
in this quest, at least let us fish the hot water ditch!”
Here’s the City Council’s tentative budget workshop schedule:
• Thursday, Jan. 8 at 5 p.m.: Revenue and Expense Overview, City Council,
City Clerk, City Treasurer
• Wednesday, Jan. 14 immediately after the 5 p.m. Utility Committee
meeting: Police and Fire
• Thursday, Jan. 15 immediately after the 5 p.m. Public Works Committee meeting:
Public Works
• Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 5 p.m.: Health Department, Convention & Visitors
Bureau
• Thursday, Jan. 29 immediately after the 5 p.m. Public Works
Committee meeting: CWLP, Office of the Mayor, capital spending
There will also be a budget workshop on Human Resources,
Budget & Management, and Economic Development sometime
during the week of Jan. 19. The exact date had not been determined at press
time. All meetings will be held in City Council chambers and broadcast on Municipal
Channel 18.
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2004.
