And Gossips Wasn't There . . .

Last night's Common Council meeting has been described as "the most chaotic meeting ever," "one of the more confusing meetings on record," and "the worst experience you can possibly imagine." Alas, Gossips, still working at the polls, missed everything.

The confusion and contention was, predictably, over the Senior Center, apparently incited by Alderman Abdus Miah (Second Ward) and aided and abetted by his fellow aldermen Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward) and Robert Donahue (Fifth Ward). From what can be pieced together from conversations with witnesses to the mayhem, which went on for an hour and a half, Miah, in his role as chair of the Youth & Aging Committee, had requested that Ken Dow, city attorney, prepare three resolutions that the committee had agreed to bring forward to the full Council. Dow had done so, but the resolutions were not presented to the Council because, as Miah claimed, Mayor Tiffany Martin Hamilton had "pulled" them. Miah had his own versions of these resolutions, which he, Garriga, and Donahue introduced from the floor. The press and the public never got to see these resolutions, and they don't appear on the City website. One was voted on and passed; one was tabled; one was voted on and failed. It seems that a resolution that passed was one appropriating an additional $54,800 for the Youth Department, but that is unclear.

Dan Udell videotaped all the proceedings, so everyone who was not there can view what went on. Gossips will publish the link to the video as soon as it is available. It may not provide clarity about what happened, since participants in the meeting reportedly left the Council Chamber uncertain of what had transpired, but it could be both revealing and entertaining.    
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