City Council Meeting

City Council meets tomorrow night. Not much exciting on the agenda but expect to see council candidates Lance Jack and Don Monty make several comments on agenda items as has been their wont at the past few council meetings.

IceBox Bar

Apparently the Spotlight Bar and Grille in the 200 block of West Main has quasi reopened as the Icebox and is hosting after hours parties again. Just an accident waiting to happen.

Well, That Was Fast...

Looks like LilyWhite Designs, the Christian themed fashion store, that opened last fall in the space previously occupied by Two Doves Photography at 211 W. Main, has moved out. The retail space is bare and a sign in the window reads: Gallery HQ For Rent. From the tone of the owner's latest blog post, the retail storefront may just have been a three month pop up store to test the waters.

Mayoral Candidate Forum

After the LAB meeting, I got to catch the five candidates for mayor in their first open forum. Nothing much surprising happened and no one knocked themselves out of the race, though Brent Ritzel didn't do himself any favors by strongly advocating a tax on plastic and paper bags to the group of about a hundred onlookers.

Saluki Way tax--When asked if they would look for ways to repeal it, everyone except Fritzler said they supported keeping it, with Haynes and Goldman pointing to the 400 construction jobs the complex brought to the community and the increase sales in restaurants on game nights. Ritzel appeared to support it but was was lukewarm at best. Maroney came out strongest: "It's a done deal. Get over it."

All five candidates supported eliminating restrictions on liquor sales by grocery stores, saying that the current restrictions held back free enterprise.

None of the other responses really made a strong point. Since it was held at the Boys and Girls Club, a couple of the questions dealt with the city and education. All of the cnadidates pointed out that, while they as mayor would support education, the school system was separate from the city and there wasn't really much they could do about Carbondale schools.

All of the candidates made much of their managerial, business and experience in government. Fritzler appeared to notice the emphasis on business experience in the other candidate's opening statements as he played up his more in his closing statement.

Saw city council candidates Jane Adams and Don Monty in the audience and had the opportunity to speak with Tommy Hamilton, who is running for a seat on District 95's school board. He wants to see more parental and community involvement in the schools and apparently has been quite active with the school system as a parent.

LAB Meeting

Caught most of the Liquor Advisory Board meeting tonight. The vote was pretty perfunctory on granting the Fair Days request for Carbondale Main Street's Wine and Art Fair, with only one question from a board member regarding whether the designation had been granted in the past Maybe it is just me being old and crotchety but the gentleman representing CMS left his baseball cap on while he made the request to the board. I figure, if you are making a request from a city organization, common courtesy would have you remove the cap during the proceedings.

Things got a little more interesting during the quarterly reports from the fire and police departments. Seems the fire department has made a dozen checks of the Cali/Copper Dragon/Pinch Penny area during the past quarter, much higher than other bars in the city. Additionally, Chief O'Guinn reported that Pinch Penny has had 84 alcohol related arrests during the past half year, four times more than any other bar in the city and well on their way to passing the 119 arrests there during the previous year.

This struck the LAB as so significant they they will send a letter requesting the owners of Pinch Penny to appear before the Board to explain the high numbers of arrests and their plans for reducing the nunber of infractions.

Brent Ritzel Questionnaire

Finally got around to looking at Brent Ritzel's responses to the Shawnee Green Party's questionnaire. Ritzel goes in to much detail in his responses, discussing at length what he sees as the three most pressing issues facing the city: quality of life, economic development and a sustainable community, and increasing the economic well being for all residents. However, there's scant detail on how he would achieve these.

In response to how to solve Carbondale's revenue shortfalls, he proposes placing a tax on plastic and paper shopping bags and utilizing the Comprehensive Plan to increase efficiencies and reduce wast in city operations. His other responses alll relect those in the first question as he desires increasing the quality of life for residents as well as making the community more sustainable. His plan for accomplishing this derived extensively from further implementation of the Carbondale Comprehensive Plan.

Winter Weather

The city sent out this press release:

Reports from the National Weather Service have placed Carbondale on the fringe of bad winter weather, with the possibility of rain, freezing rain, ice and/or snow. Although the weather forecast remains uncertain, City staff will continue to monitor the temperatures and types of precipitation. Resources will be deployed as necessary based on roadway conditions, power outages, downed power lines or tree limbs, etcetera. The City's trucks have had been fitted with snow plows and are prepared to be loaded with road salt and cinders if necessary. Other equipment such as generators, chain saws and backhoes are also ready to handle other weather emergencies as needed.

The City has been in touch with the utility service providers and will monitor any outtages or emergencies in cooperation with the local managers.

Motorists are asked to use caution when driving, especially on side streets and over bridges. Those persons that do not need to travel are asked to remain at home until the streets are cleared.

The City appreciates your understanding.