Chastening at City Hall

UPDATED FURTHER BELOW ON 10/18/12

City of Newcastle, WA -- Council Meeting of 10/16/12

Alpha male, Councilmember Ben Erxleben, who always seems to dominate Newcastle City Council meetings, was chastened a bit by fellow Councilmember John Dulcich, who seemed perturbed by Erxleben's annexation talk of recent weeks (see previous post: Annexation of Newcastle: "Never").  Dulcich gave complimentary though desultory comments about Erxleben's accomplishments and efficiencies before making one exception, essentially saying that Erxleben didn't know how to read a budget, and asking, rhetorically, why Erxleben didn't resign his seat and move to Bellevue.  Erxleben, obviously upset by Dulcich's chiding, suggested that it was a personal attack on him and called on (Point of Order) Mayor Rich Crispo to rule out of order the comment by Dulcich, if not all "personal attacks" in general by one councilmember against another.  Crispo eventually responded by saying that members can say pretty much what they want during Council Comments, but there should be a modicum of respect for one another (it was unclear as to whether Crispo actually ruled on Erxleben's Point of Order one way or the order).

The meeting was relatively short, with the main business being the Preliminary 2013 Budget and Public Hearings.  No one from the audience at the sparsely attended meeting (about eight-or-so people overall, including this writer and the Newcastle News reporter) decided to speak on the budget.  Finance Director Chris Olson gave a 25-minute-or-so presentation, with various charts, about the official budget proposal.  It appeared to be, basically, a status quo budget, and was presented as being balanced. City Manager, Rob Wyman, who along with Olson and the Council plays a major role in shaping the budget, said that basic city services and functions could be provided for under this budget, but there was little room for error within the budgetary guidelines and that the budget would be tight barring no revenue increases.  Wyman also announced that three candidates would be considered for the new Community Development Director at an October 24th informal session at Sweet Decadence, a pastry shop which is in the same building as City Hall.

[revised on 10/19/12]

Update (10/18/12):  It appears that before this post was updated today, that the matter about a Point of Order was in error, as Erxleben apparently made a Point of Order and it was to be ruled on by the presider of the meeting, which in this case was Mayor Crispo.

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