A far less lyrical state of the city

If you heard Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett's State of the City speech Wednesday as one of the interested citizens, local leaders or captains of industry who packed the Convention Complex, you may have thought 'Well done, mayor. But the chicken was a bit rubbery.”

If you heard it as a local scribe hunting for pop culture references, song lyrics and general absurdities, both planned and accidental, that have marked past addresses, you probably thought, 'Where's the column fodder?”

Corbett, who often builds his annual speech around a pop song, constructed this year's edition around a story from his youth. He was a 12-year-old Little League umpire who hesitated calling a line drive down the left field line fair or foul, and got an earful from disgruntled fans. It's a lot like when the city council makes tough calls and gets an earful. OK, I get it.

But I missed the music. And I wasn't alone.

'What happened to the musical theme? I miss it,” asked a member of the audience.

Corbett said he nearly used 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?” by The Clash. 'It's a very classic song about indecision,” he said.

'And it would have worked great with my remarks about making a decision and making the call fair or foul. But I figured our popular local political pundit Todd Dorman would read more into that, so I decided to stay away from that,” Corbett said.

The mayor is, of course, tipping a coy cap at his exploration of a possible run for governor. Should he stay in Cedar Rapids or should he go hit the campaign trail?

First, popular? He obviously doesn't read my mail.

Second, a 'pundit” knows when he's being played.

So I also won't mention Corbett has been crisscrossing the state, giving speeches on behalf of his Engage Iowa think tank. He told our editorial board a couple weeks ago that he delivered talks or planned to speak in Carroll, Ankeny, Coralville, North Scott, Ottumwa, West Liberty, Jefferson, Burlington. Wellman, Kalona, Tipton, Newton, Coon Rapids, Clinton and Davenport. Normally, I would say it looks a lot like a gubernatorial toe-dipping tour, but I wouldn't want anyone to read anything into it. Wink.

Maybe he's saving his best oratorical zingers for those road games. Save one brief appearance by Mel Gibson and a reference to the remarkable fact that more people attended last year's lone Saturday night downtown farmers market than voted in the last mayoral election, the speech was pretty dry. Though not completely.

'Maybe the auditor should consider selling beer at the polling places. We might get more voter participation,” he said of the public's preference for suds over civics.

And perhaps the strongest portion of his speech sought to push citizens to get more involved. He talked of the murder of two homeless people, Raymond Ursino and Sharon Mead, and how the tragedy compelled him to learn much more about the issue of homelessness in the city.

'If you make the call to get involved, people will cheer for you. Why? Because you made the right call and helped make the state of our city even stronger,” Corbett said.

An important message, with or without lyrics.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com