City Council Left Campaign Outside Chambers

It was business as usual at Tuesday's City Council meeting. You would never have known there was a bitter mayoral contest between Mayor Casey Tanaka and Councilwoman Barbara Denny being waged as the 3 p.m. meeting went forward. 

Both appeared determined to keep the verbal spats of the past few months confined to the campaign trail, though they have occasionally flared up at the meetings as well.

Not that there was a lot of love shown – both contenders kept their distance and avoided direct contact. 

In the end, Tanaka wished everyone a happy voting day and offered good luck sentiments to Denny and Councilman Michael Woiwode in their races.

(Hours later, Tanaka prevailed, while Woidode won a second term against four challengers. Councilwoman Carrie Downey is leaving the panel.)

The brief meeting lasted 45 minutes, and that included handing out prizes to the winners of the recreation department's Thanksgiving coloring contest. The top prize for each age division was a turkey.

The agenda itself was light. Only 13 items were considered. Denny objected to some of them, concerning costs of city contracts up for consideration. 

Councilman Al Ovrom wondered why she was challenging the current rates paid for outside legal services, among others. “I hope to save taxpayers' money,” Denny replied.

But Ovrom warned, “You can always be pound foolish.”