The
Angry Drunk Bureaucrat attended
Bob O'Connor's coronation and reports on it
here. While I was in the area too then, I was inside the City County Building watching the swearing in ceremony for
Daniel Deasy,
James Motznik,
Tonya Payne and
Bill Peduto.
While ADB noted that:
Prior to getting downstairs, I heard the choir warming up, but because of the echo downtown, it sounded like the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" sequence from 2001. Very, very strange and eerie.
I have to say that it sounded even stranger in City Council Chambers when one was trying to listen to the members speeches. And speaking of those speeches:
Dan Deasy's speech was (ZZZZZZzzzzz). Sorry, I nodded off just thinking about it.
Jim Moztnik hit all the right notes and also got the biggest laugh line of the morning by recounting his kid's prayer to Santa for better parents.
Tonya Payne thanked everyone by name who she's ever met in her life (including me so I'm really not complaining). She also managed to clock the most laughs per minute while still having the most touching moment of the morning when she got a little teary-eyed thanking her parents. (Some of her speech is quoted here in the Post-Gazette.)
Bill Peduto had the shortest speech, but also the most inclusive and hopeful. In addition to favorably quoting a Republican -- Teddy Roosevelt -- he also quoted "The Paradoxical Commandments" (which he also had printed on the back of his Christmas cards).The loudest cheers went to Payne and Peduto (I heard someone behind me mutter something about a "lack of decorum" during one point when a large portion of the room erupted in applause for Payne), but all the members who were sworn in were well represented and well applauded.
Oh, and
someone or other was elected President of City Council.
I did happen to see a second or two of O'Connor's ceremony when I was leaving to go back to work and I must say that there were a lot of empty chairs for an event that had 10,000 invitees and was open to the public.
That said, sincere wishes for GOOD LUCK to everyone who was sworn in yesterday -- they're going to need it.
I'm suprised that a solid DFA member like Tonya refused to buck the old school crowd and supported the new council president. I'm not suprised that Bill would go back to his roots and quote a republican.
ReplyDelete..."back to his roots" is kinda a silly slam. I registered Republican the first time I ever voted (I think it was so I could vote for John Anderson in that primary)so I guess that makes everything I say suspect now. (Besides, it was a good quote.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if it was up to me, Peduto wouldn't have been inside being elected prez of City Council -- he would have been outside being sworn in as mayor. That said, yes, it's really a damn shame that he wasn't elected as city council prez.
I thought there were 4 votes for Twanda for president. What Happened??
ReplyDelete"We will be able to begin bringing people, businesses and jobs back to our neighborhoods," she said.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to getting more than an empty "uh huh" when I call to once again ask for help or share my thoughts and opinions ...
Face it Payne is just another hack and registering R to vote for a progressive in a primary is a lot different than running the young republicans and idolizing Reagen like Peduto.
ReplyDelete