The Stand

The City Council last night rejected Mayor Dan Mylott's proposed budget cuts. In the short term, it sets the city into a bit of a tizzy with the tax rate needing to be set, but the long-term benefits might outweigh some short-term confusion and urgency.

We're a little surprised the council slapped down Mylott's request, but we're very, very pleased to see the council take a stand.

Government works best when the branches work as checks and balances with each other. Over the last few years, Mylott's been able to keep the balance of fiscal power in his favor, as the council has done some yelling and finger-pointing, but hasn't really taken strong action to regain some of that power.

That changed last night.

Mylott has always been able to use time as a tool. In this year's budget process, for example, the council had just enough time to consider sending the budget back, but not enough time to really restart the process. This time, they seemingly had just enough time to approve these cuts, set the tax rate, and complain about it.

Instead, the council took the bold step no one was quite sure they had in them. They called the time's-running-out bluff, and made their stand.

The mayor is accountable to the entire city, but that accountability is most held by the City Council. Last night, notice was sent that the council is ready to take that very seriously.