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All too often this space is utilized to criticize our city government or critique a specific issue. Today however, I am proud to acknowledge a bold action initiated by our mayor. On May 10 Mayor Joe Lockwood exercised his veto right and vacated a city council decision that for two weeks was mired in suspicion and disbelief. At issue was the AG1 rezoning that concluded in favor of a Community Unit Plan. The direction of the vote was not what created the stir, but rather the number of procedural violations that took place during the process.
The violations and improprieties that led the mayor to exercise his veto authority included:
1. A council member participated on several occasions despite being recused.
2. The city attorney contradicted his own advice to council on several occasions.
3. One council member gave a marketing presentation pitching Brightwater which lasted close to 25 minutes.
4. The city attorney extended the session past midnight, even though this is reserved for emergencies only.
5. Seven votes were taken, two resulting in ties on opposite motions which the city attorney should have advised as denial.
6. Several council members openly engaged the applicant in real-time negotiations.
7. A council member amended the final motion to accept the applicant’s revised submitted conditions, which staff, council, and the city attorney had not seen or reviewed.

Irrespective of your position on the item in question, we should all feel a great deal of civic pride in the action Mayor Lockwood took. Without procedural rules and proper governance, the integrity of all future meetings would be in question. I applaud the mayor for having the good conscience to correct the civic injustice that was perpetrated despite a certain amount of political blowback that he can expect given the divisiveness of the rezoning in question.

David Damiani, Milton