The Return of the Mayor

Predictably, Mayor Dan Mylott returned some fire at the City Council during his weekly press conference. At the root of Mylott's message: Why such a big deal over $7,200 for seniors?

The council put the breaks on the small, reimburseable, payment for a MART dispatcher, saying it wasn't touching of the $300,000 (or so) stocked away until it finds out from Mylott about union contract settlements. Mylott hasn't coughed up any details as of yet, and thinks the council is being unfair.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Mylott said, according to the Telegram. “This is a program that helps the elderly. It’s not costing anybody any money and it’s something that is needed. If they have other issues they want to bring to me, my door is always open to them.”

The council, however, is once again holding the financial line, even taking a smaller issue hostage to gain traction on a larger one.

"The mayor doesn't seem to understand that though the $7,200 may be a small amount of money, we has a council have determined we won't spend any money until we get fair answers to our questions," Councilor Stephan Hay told the Sentinel. The mayor has either been unable or unwilling to provide these details."

So, what is it? Is Mylott's door "always open to them," or has been "unable or unwilling" to communicate with the council? It appears the council's new tough philosophy has taken Mylott a bit by surprise, and he's trying to figure out his next moves. The council, however, is staying a step ahead (really, would a $7,200 reimbursed MART payment ever be an issue otherwise?).

The situation is most certainly interesting from the point of politics and the balance of power in the city. However, the casualties (direct and indirect) may pile up fast if the two sides don't figure out their new relationship. The council's new-found fiscal friskiness is a plus for the city, but the council and mayor need to figure out how to play nice together if the city is going to move forward.