THE VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS
By Jerry Haferkamp
Some of us older folks will remember a TV show that debuted in 1956 called "To Tell The Truth". It was hosted by Bud Collyer and had 3 guests. One was the real person of interest and the other two were imposters. The panelists would try to guess the person of interest and eliminate the imposters. The imposters were allowed to lie to fool the panel. At the end of the program, Bud Collyer would say something like:
"Will the real Mike Weller please stand up?".
This would have been beneficial to those of us who watch our city council. Is the real Mike Weller the clean shaven one who last week said something like "You know how I am. I like to get as much information as I can before I decide."? Or is the real Mike Weller the one who voted to not supoena the necessary witnesses to get to the bottom of the Express Scripts incident? Or is the real Mike Weller the scruffy bearded thug who voted to kill the investigation into possible fraud in the recalls? The clean shaven one likes information. The scruffy faced one likes to quash any effort to obtain information. Maybe it's in the beard. The evil comes out in the whiskers.
"Will the real Mike Weller please stand up?"
Last nights meeting was a hoot. In a transparent effort to assist those wanting to recall Mark Brown, Bob Kneemiller opened a can of worms that he would have better left closed. The worms in the can Bobby opened flew back into his face when Mark Brown had his chance to speak. After Mr. Brown took little Bobby to the woodshed, his Mommy tried to soften the whoopin' he got by trying to offer another reason for his attack on Brown. Sorry, Mommie Patti. It didn't fly either.
In the effort to get to the bottom of the possible recall fraud, the council contracted an attorney to investigate. In order to continue, his contract would have to be extended. Councilman Gieseke hit a nerve when he slyly stated that if a council member had nothing to hide, they should support the investigation. This, of course, prompted Muench, Weller, Reese, Kneemiller and Hoepfner to vote to block the discovery of the information one of the Mike Wellers said he wants in order to make decisions.
"Will the real Mike Weller please stand up"?
I doubt if he will, but if he does I bet my money that the real one is the bearded one who helps keep the cover on things that aren't right at City Hall.
Question: Now that Weller is on one side of Reese at the meetings and Kneemiller is on the other side, is it Weller's job to wake him up for a vote or is that Kneemiller's job now?
Of course, that's just the view from the cheap seats.
