CR Council's Summer Cliffhangers

Cedar Rapids' must-see CC is giving itself some R&R this summer.

Mayor Ron Corbett asked and received permission from his fellow City Council members to erase some meetings from the summer calendar. Staff will have time for vacations. Ron gets time away from his squad.

Five meetings are being scrapped in June, July and August. If it works out, the council may adopt a permanent two-meetings-per-month schedule. Trade those council packets for beach books.

“I think we're trying to find the sweet spot, a balance,” Corbett said of lessening the load on the “part-time” council. It reminds me of when Corbett and other young Republicans tried to create a “family friendly” Legislature that gaveled in at 1 p.m. Monday and skedaddled Thursday afternoon.

Still, this is a great disappointment to those of us who count on the council for Tuesday night excitement.

You've got the Ron Squad and Tom Podzimek's grenades. With The Colonel and The Cowboy, you never know what's going to happen. Miss a week, miss a lot. Now, we only get half as much drama.

It's like a TV show going into summer reruns. Tonight's meeting is sort of like a season finale. They're going to leave us hanging. Cliffhangers galore this summer.

We'll have to wait for backyard chickens closure. Tonight was supposed to be the night, but turns out a formal ordinance process must come before chickens or eggs. Hope for a quicker resolution was scrambled.

The city manager search continues, although a capable interim manager, Allan Thoms, is on the job.

Who will buy the old library? Where will the new Central Fire Station be built? Will the Army Corps of Engineers seek to leave half of the city unprotected from flooding? Will our congressional reps save the day? Stay tuned. Weeks, months maybe.

And will the Sinclair smokestack ever win its battle to become Cedar Rapids' most unpopular landmark? The anti-stack sentiment is so strong, I thought the city was installing a giant anti-tip Yardy plate at the smokestack's base. Not the case.

Corbett wants to give historic preservationists a month or so to get a plan together. I still say if they can secure non-public funding, and have a plan for the stack's future, have at it. It's a symbol of the city's blue-collar history, but remember that heritage also includes a strong, sturdy disdain for anything perceived to be wasteful and frivolous.

But now, we've got more time for frivolity. Goodbye Hiawatha. Hello Margaritaville.

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