New Year, New Council, New Mayor
My resolution is to forego promises of lifestyle changes. As such, in 2026 these posts will continue to be irregular and of questionable quality. As to the latter, I don’t have much to add this morning. Last night was the first regular meeting of the year. With all due respect to a handful of nuts and bolts citizen petitions, nothing happened.
Maybe it’s best to start slow and ease into that new year? With the new calendar and all those resolutions, some people try to run before they can walk and fail spectacularly. For example, my gym looks like a Civil War battlefield. It’s a Planet Fitness, so it’s not a real gym, but still – things are ugly in there right now.
More interesting than my fake gym and last night’s “meeting” was the special inauguration meeting that took place on Monday the 5th. All councilors, including first-timers Juran, McDonough, and Liang, were sworn in and immediately took up the task of electing our new mayor. Back in mid-December, it was reported that Dan Rourke had secured five of the necessary six votes that would grant a second term. However, he was unable to lock up the necessary sixth vote and lost out to Erik Gitschier, who got to six on the second ballot.
The voting was as follows:
Many thanks to former Mayor Rourke who ran a hell of a meeting these past two years and was a key player in our current relationship with the UN. Congratulations to Mayor Gitschier on his selection and kudos for whatever maneuvering was necessary to secure the six votes. I’ll leave it to “insiders” far more knowledgeable than I to provide analysis as to what happened, why, and what (if anything) it means for potential alliances or camps in the upcoming term.
However, my gripe (there’s always at least one) is that when councilors elect the mayor, the decision is driven by backroom negotiations, personal alliances, or strategic vote-trading that residents never see. [Watch the vote unfold – it clearly followed a pre-determined script that you and I never saw]. Cutting voters out of the most visible leadership decision only reinforces the perception that key outcomes are decided inside City Hall rather than by the people it serves. Maybe some sort of ballot question would allow voters to weigh in on this? I dunno.
That said, I’m looking forward to the new year and new term. Best of luck to all sworn this week. If you succeed, we all succeed.
Stay tuned!
3 responses to “Government Was Happening: January 6, 2026”
I could be wrong, but I felt this posted comment on Mr. Nutter’s “Sunday Notes” “It appears if NOT the compromise Mayor, Councilor John Descoteaux will be the new Vice Chair”, was the pivotal turning point. Personally, I sensed it as being very unfair and disrespectful to long term City Councilor and now Vice Mayor Vesna Nuon. Thats when I knew it was over.
Tuesday nights are just the show. It’s the rest of the week where the sausage gets made.
“Abusive and Bullying men are almost always protected and enabled by their fathers, mothers & siblings
Instead of accountability, there’s excuse after excuse.
Instead of correction, there’s denial, minimization, and blame-shifting.
Bad behavior is defended as “misunderstood,”
violence and bullying is softened as “anger,”
and harm and jealousy is rewritten as someone else’s fault.
When a father, mother and siblings shield their son from consequences,
they don’t save him—
they create an abusive & bullying man who believes ALL should endure what they excused.
It starts at home”
Author Unknown