10 SEP 08: PARTLY CLOUDY DOWNTOWN

If you think that's the Columbus weather report - well, that was right for awhile Tuesday afternoon. In fact, it became so cloudy downtown that it appeared rain might fall. But very little is raining on Mayor Jim Wetherington's parade these days....

Mayor Jim Wetherington broke a 5-5 tie on Columbus Council, and voted down a proposed expansion of duties for the Public Safety Advisory Commission. It will NOT have investigative powers, will NOT look into possible misconduct - and we hope the members enjoy their anonymous breakfast meetings at Ruth Ann's Restaurant.

The mayor explained changing the Public Safety Advisory Commission into a "Review Commission" would cast "a dark cloud" over Columbus public safety. Of course, this explains why dining out has dropped sharply since the Ledger-Enquirer began doing restaurant reviews.

Did you notice all the law officers in the audience at the Columbus Council meeting? Either they were very interested in Tuesday's vote, attempting to put quiet pressure on Councilors - or the enforcement of that five-minute time limit for public speaking is about to increase.

Randy Robertson with the Fraternal Order of Police told WRBL a Pubic Safety Review Commission is a wrong idea, especially since Columbus has one of the "most professional" police forces in the country. Compared with Hurtsboro, almost any police force could make that statement.

It was Councilor Julius Hunter who proposed turning the Public Safety Advisory Commission into a review panel. He said people don't seem to understand his purpose for this idea. I mean, besides a possible campaign for mayor in 2010....

Julius Hunter noted in other cities, a public commission reviews controversial public safety cases before an internal investigation is finished. He wanted the public review to follow an internal examination. - which truly would turn the process inside-out, wouldn't it?

Bill Madison of the Columbus NAACP says he was pleased that the Columbus Council vote on a Public Safety Review Commission wound up in a 5-5 deadlock. Now THIS is a change. After the way the Kenneth Walker case ended, Madison is happy simply to get something close to what he wants.

But this is yet another case where "The Chief" came to the side of Columbus law enforcement. Jim Wetherington has done this so often in the last two years, I won't be surprised if the city's cable TV channel begins showing reruns of "Law and Order."

People in several states and at least three countries are reading our new blog about poker and life. Visit "On the Flop!"

E-MAIL UPDATE: Maybe police officers should have filled last week's Council meeting as well. At least that's what this message suggests....

Missing Minutes in the Tape

Did the Sept. 2, 2008 Columbus Consolidated Government Council meeting have a speaker who threatened activists as she left the podium? Please view the tapes. You can see it on the televised portions as well as the on line.

After the lady delivered words about God and respect- admonishing the three activists who preceded her, as she walked from the podium she said, "And may I say its best to do what I said. It's dangerous if not."

Then the tape blacks out--- what did she say to the activists at the moment the tape blacked out, for a minute?

An Activist said "Is that a threat?"

She said, "Yes."

He said "I cannot believe you are threatening me."

She said, "Well, I am."

Reportedly, She often sits with Judy Thomas, the Mayor's right hand gal, and she IMPULSIVELY JUMPED TOWARD AND HUGGED Smyre (an exec on bank) and C. Hugley when they were getting their much deserved recognitions at council meeting.

Could the mayor be using her, an unusual person, with whom he might have plausible deniability, to issue a threat to the activists who have for so long been a thorn in his side? Simultaneously, Robert became very friendly with the activist, whom he has been seen to shout at outside council. Interesting!

All of this when:

1. The activist brought forward info on the tax exemptions being for 100% rather than 50% by inflating value amounts for businesses by 100%, so that they got 100% taxes in reality, though it looks like 50%.

2. At the same time the activist was pounding CB&T for the Aspire and Compucredit mess in which NY state threw Steve Melton out of the state, to show their greed.

3.******You will note that the activist also noted that CB&T got the city contract for reserves and that the city manager would not provide the interest rate in the council meeting when the activist repeatedly asked for it. CB&T should be paying the city-- interest on the reserves but the City Manager refused to provide the interest rate at council. Could it be that they are paying bare minimum when competitors might have paid much more. There was a contract for millions---where is the interest rate?

Can the blog get the interest rate the city is being paid for the reserves by CB&T? There is a contract-would it be in the contract?

Since Judy Thomas indeed was sitting nearby, we called the Executive to the Mayor Tuesday for her perspective. She told me the mysterious woman is Ollie Tarver - a retired school teacher who is NOT a city employee. I wonder if she's felt the urge to hug any school board members in recent months.

The way Judy Thomas heard it, Ollie Tarver turned to Paul Olson and declared: "God's gonna get you for being ugly to the Council members." So perhaps that was a threat - only from one of Tarver's "Higher-Ups."

(But I can understand why this writer was shocked by Ollie Tarver's spontaneous hugging. After all, Carolyn Hugley's husband was right there in the room watching it all....)

We calked the city Finance Department Tuesday as well, but the "people in authority" were in meetings. They never called us back about the reserve fund -- but depending on how it's set up, the interest rate might be subject to market conditions. For instance, investments in Alaska oil companies look pretty good right now....

And speaking of oil:

I just cannot believe where it is headed. It has been going down hill before "Gustav" and still going down today. if you lokk at http://www.georgiagasprices.com/ and http://www.alabamagasprices.com/ we are in another complete world. What gives.

Downhill?! From the complaints I read and heard Tuesday, Columbus gas prices are going up. It's as if dealers heard Thomas Friedman's warnings about global warming at the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum, and decided this is their last chance to make a profit before the entire city buys electric cars.

One man told me Tuesday if crude oil prices have dropped from $140 a barrel to $104, gas prices should go down by a similar amount. Before you jump to conclusions - this man actually knew his math. He was NOT calling for a $60 fill-up to cost $24.

This man's point was that crude oil prices have dropped 25 percent, so gas prices should do the same - and fall to about three dollars a gallon, compared with the four-dollar highs of June. Aw, c'mon! After all the ridiculous increases of this year, should you really expect gas prices to become logical now?

I'd like to think there's a lag of several days, when it comes to local gas prices. By the weekend, we might see the impact of a recent slump in oil futures. But some of us filled our tanks LAST weekend, thinking ahead about what Hurricane Ike might do in the Gulf of Mexico. We stayed home and saved money - while the grumblers will have to drive to Huntsville for savings.

With the research question count down to two, we'll stop the e-mails there and move to other Tuesday news:

+ Rep. Calvin Smyre held a campaign kickoff media event at the Columbus Democratic headquarters. Smyre promises to work for a mass transit system across Georgia - and in the meantime, I can't wait to see him head for Atlanta next January on a Greyhound bus.

+ Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph Johnson opened his campaign headquarters on 13 SUP>th Street. His election web site allows you to order a yard sign - as opposed to other law officers, who might offer to go 50-50 on a box of doughnuts.

+ The Opelika-Auburn News reported someone stole a truck from an Auburn business last week, which was loaded with 100 fire hydrants. The truck was found, but the 100 hydrants remain missing - and somewhere, there's one Dalmatian that's very upset right now.

+ The nonprofit playground-building agency "KaBoom" named Columbus one of this year's 67 "Playful Cities" in the U.S. This is a nice-sounding honor - but I have this fear some clubs on Victory Drive will take it in a different direction.

+ Rabbi Max Roth of Shearith Israel Synagogue told WRBL he may follow Dothan's example, and place ads in other cities encouraging Jewish families to move to Columbus. But Roth admits his synagogue can't afford to offer them $50,000 - and besides, the families will be sad to discover most of the barbecue restaurants emphasize pork.

+ Instant Message to the people living on Terminal Court in Columbus: I heard a friend say Tuesday she absolutely would NOT want to live on a street with that name. And I certainly would never think about opening a funeral home there.

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