Here’s a fun follow-up to Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, when Councilman Carl Mumpower went round with Mayor Terry Bellamy. This is a Mumpower e-mail to the mayor. See the Ellington posts below for all the dets on last night’s meeting:
Mayor,
Last evening, during the "Ellington" debate, it is my belief that you abused your authority as Mayor by allowing the Vice-Mayor to interrupt my line of questioning and subsequently utilizing the gavel to duplicate her effort. Comments like, "I do not believe that Council members should be tagging this project with their personal preferences." or "Are there a plethora of dead birds in downtown Asheville?" do not constitute profanity, direct personal attack, or other misbehaviors that might merit authoritative intervention. That you or the Vice-Mayor take personal offense at my comments in no way validates your efforts toward censorship or arbitrary filtering of the deliberation process.
Going forward, I would encourage you to use your gavel with greater restraint. Your comment on "reining me in" was in remarkably poor taste and a broad step toward misapplication of your powers. As an elected official, I am charged to uphold the law. Should your or any other member of Council note my failure to uphold this charge, I encourage you to formally or informally bring it to my attention or otherwise take legally supported action. Offenses to your sensibilities or preferences do not provide the same opportunities.
In conclusion, under most circumstances, the most important person to "rein it" is ourselves. With your permission may I offer that you and the Vice-Mayor have historically and repeatedly violated proper procedure by "Calling the Question" as a means to curtailing deliberation to match your interests. "Calling the Question" is a motion subject to a vote by the full Council – not a unilateral trump card to be indiscriminately tossed on the dais when it suits the needs of those comfortable with bullying or censoring the deliberation process.
Carl Mumpower
Asheville City Council
6 Comments
eh, he’s right though. The Mayor has a bad habbit of busting out the Gavel once people start questioning her.
In a perfect world, she, the vice mayor, and Carl, would all retire from politics.
Does Mumpower ever miss an opportunity to grand-stand? Expect a lot more of this kind complaining as election day approaches. It’s not productive, but it buys into the conservative base which loves to feel oppressed.
The thing that makes The Mumps so an interminable self righteous blowhard more than anything else (and there are LOTS of things that make him one) is that even when he has won he complains. He got the Ellginton, and he got the original design. He got 99.99% of what he wanted and his messianic cum martyr complex still goes into overdrive. He’s the only person who can gripe about micro managing BY micromanaging.
Jeez, someone needs to call the WAAAAHmbulance.
I think the number is WHINE-1-1.
what a crazy headcase this guy is
This is more evidence that the Mump is not really running for Congress, but for Mayor.