Ah, The Good Old Days

I guess I had forgotten what life was like before Andy took a seat on the Council and Randy became Mayor.  I was reminded again last night when he talked about how to get corporate support for city projects.  He used to talk about attracting "good corporate citizens."  I remember when In-n-Out was asked what they would do for our community, I think by the Planning Commission.  They were surprised and indignant.  They said they would not contribute anything, and if they were expected to do so they'd walk away.  They said they are not used to any resistence from cities where they seek to build.  

When one Planning Commissioner said she could not vote for the 65' sign, In-n-Out got up and said without the sign they'd walk away.  But the message was clear; the Council had approved the sale of the land, and staff and commissions bent over backward and did all kinds of gymnastics to make it alright to approve the project.  No one wanted to be responsible for letting this fish get away once it had been caught and proudly displayed by the Council

I wonder what would have happened if the Council had negotiated some contribution from In-n-Out before they agreed to the sale.  The definition of "negotiation" was certainly very different before this council took over.

I hope this brief period with Brad back on the council will remind people how a council can run, how a city can be run, without the nastiness, threats, pomposity, etc. we have seen over the past year and a half.  

At least one person applied for the temporary seat because of Andy's appalling performance at career day at Central Middle School.  I hope the contrast between the council we had six months ago and the one we have now will be enough to push people to run for the two seats that will be available.  There were some very good candidates who applied for that temporary seat.  I hope they will run in the fall.

Even better, maybe we could petition Pixar to give Brad time to serve for another four years.