Shearin knows how to take a political punch
OK, fight fans, it’s time for an update on the “Free For All at City Hall.” It’s a 15-round bout between the reigning champ, City Manager Vince Capell and the challenger, Mayor Ken Shearin.
April will mark the halfway point through the almost-clean-sweep council’s first two years of a four-year term. That puts our political pugilists in their respective corners at the end of the seventh round.
Using the 10-point must system to score the match, “Floats like a butterfly, stings like an accountant” Capell holds a clear five rounds to two margin over “Bet you didn’t see that one coming” Shearin. All three judges score it for Capell (who survived the last council’s TKO): 68-64. 67-65. 66-63. It doesn’t look good for the battered mayor.
Don’t try telling him that. Mayor Kenny is a fighter. He has been his whole life. He wears pressure well and rarely blushes. Tenacity may just be his greatest strength. The manager has thrown some of his best bureaucratic punches at this political newcomer. The mayor just keeps coming back for more.
Indeed, Mayor Kenny is back on the offensive with his old push for the council to hire its own auditor to help guide them through the manager’s budget. Earlier swings fell well short of its target.
But the mayor is hopeful that a recent state audit of the city of Springfield will add some momentum to his new pitch. He contends in a memo to the full council that the state strongly recommended hiring an internal auditor to add a layer of necessary checks and balances for the that council. Mayor Kenny also added a copy of the Springfield ordinance on hiring an internal auditor as proof that it could also work here.
You don’t have to be a state auditor to figure out that a council could use some help tracking a complex, multimillion-dollar budget. The counter argument at City Hall is that the staff works for the council. If council members want any questions answered, the staff will be more than happy to answer them.
That works great when there is trust. But this council and the last have publicly (and privately) complained about getting surprised by the staff. At best, trust is a relative commodity for this council.
Mayor Kenny sees a part-time auditor that answers to the council as a matter of balance of power. And while the squabble at City Hall is generally seen as a battle between two personalities, it is more importantly a battle for control.
The manager is winning. It could even be argued that former Mayor Glenda Kelly presided over the last time that the council had the upper hand in this struggle. To be fair, the council and manager have operated in the past as a partnership. In recent years, however, the manager appears to have clearly held the upper hand.
As for the mayor’s push for the council to hire its own auditor: Forget it. It’s all but dead already. The mayor’s got three sure votes and, on a good day, four votes in his pocket. The manager’s got three solid votes and two more than he can count on in most situations.
The only way this council could muster enough courage to hire its own auditor would be if a state audit of this City Hall produces enough of a bombshell to break loose a couple of votes from the manager stable of supporters. Don’t hold your breath.
Ironically, Mayor Kenny may have lost this balance for control of City Hall in the opening days of his administration. The mayor, aside from a ceremonial role, is basically the same as any other council member with one key distinction.
The mayor appoints the council to serve on nine committees. Now a politically astute mayor would appoint his supporters to chair the key committees while relegating his or her opponents to the less attractive committees. Control the committee chairs, and a mayor can control the flow of ideas. Stack key committees with your support, and the balance of power shifts.
No one will ever mistake Mayor Kenny for a modern disciple of Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli. His philosophy for filling committee assignments reflected a level of egalitarianism not seen sense the French Revolution. He almost removed himself from the process.
Shockingly, perhaps, the mayor’s inner circle appears stuck on the thankless committees that pass out Community Development Block Grant money or figures out how to solve the city’s sewer headaches. In contrast, the manager’s top supporters control such powerful committees as finance, public safety, oh, and personnel (which got the first shot at approving a new contract for the manager).
Mayor Kenny could reconstitute the committees for the final two years of this council. That would shake things up. But, as I’ve said, don’t hold your breath.
Mark Sheehan’s column runs on Wednesdays and Sundays.
This story has 7 comments. Click here to join in on the discussion.
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This is an excellent article Nobody can doubt that Mr. Shearin has the best interest of St. Joseph in mind. I'm just disappointed more members of the council don't follow his lead. I've taken note, however, and will be voting and campaigning for someone else to take their place come election time in two years.
Posted by HenryAllison on February 27, 2008 at 9:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)You and everyone else, BHS, and there are plenty of disappoints to go around.
Of course the biggest disappointment is at the top. Ken Shearin is a disgrace. Without a doubt, Mr. Shearin is the worst thing to happen to Saint Joseph politics in 30 years. Hard to call him a disappointment really since we knew what he was about from the start. Now Saint Joseph is a laughing stock. Mayor Kenny has stated he is a one-term mayor and we can only hope he is a man of his word. Based on his past behavior, I’m not betting on it. Furthermore the mayor has encouraged Bill Falkner to run for mayor next cycle. I certainly hope Mr. Falkner listens. Based on his disappointing turn as the mayor’s stooge there is serious doubt Mr. Falkner could win back his own council seat, much less the mayor’s chair. If Mr. Falkner runs for mayor we can get rid of him and Mr. Shearin in one fell swoop. Good times!! Sure, if you got a clogged toilet, Bill Falkner is your man. Anything else? Not so much.
Mr. Sheehan talks like there has to be an adversarial relationship between the council and the City Manager, which is absurd. Any reasonable person realizes cooperation is the better idea. Of course Mr. Sheehan has his own axe to grind, or the need to sell papers, depending on how generous you want to be. Either way, Mr. Sheehan has no motivation to foster a spirit of cooperation. Clearly Mark Sheehan doesn’t care for the City Manager and I don’t doubt the feeling is mutual. You can yell at, or cuss down, or goof on someone like Mark Sheehan as long as you don’t ignore him which is exactly what I strongly suspect the City Manager does. There you go sports fans! The City Manager’s greatest sin is the fact Mark Sheehan doesn’t exist in his universe.
Posted by rush620 on February 28, 2008 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)I agree with you BHSGRAD, and portions of HenryAllison. I do think the mayor does get himself into hot water by speaking before he thinks, however, I do not doubt for one minute that he has the best interest of St. Joe in mind. In the last election citizens were talking about bringing about change which Mr. Shearin has tried to do, but when you hit a road block at every turn, have a divided city council who dosen't seem to be able to work together or apart for that matter, and a city manager wanting to challenge EVERY idea, change is very difficult to come by. And I do think we should have an outside auditor come in and review our books. It only makes sense to be audited once in a while just to keep everybody honest. Not saying there is a problem, however, an outside accountant would just verify that there is no problem.
Posted by heritage on February 28, 2008 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)according to mr capell, an auditor's report is only an opinion. an opinion? this city has gotten so accustomed to being allowed to create law out of whole cloth it is ridiculous. in the last council meeting regarding the future of the contractual relationship between the city, museums inc and the wyeth-tootle mansion, mr. falkner made the completely rational suggestion that the audit on the matter be finished before a vote. the strategy on the part of downtown legal staff appears to be, do what you want, say what you want, and take what you want. if you get caught? they play the averages. the fact that the city is even considering flying in the face of the decision handed down by the judge, and contracting with a private entity, museums inc is another ball of wax. i also have to say that if the mayor needed a mouth piece, henry, mark is certainly more entertaining than the apparent heir to that role for capell.........
Posted by HenryAllison on February 28, 2008 at 4:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)Well Sarah or Penelope [please forgive me since I get y’all confused] I agree if I was a small-town mayor who’s stock in trade was FUD I would consider my own pet Opinion Page Editor more valuable than a Swiss banque account. Especially if I wasn’t a man of words much like our Mayor Kenny isn’t a man of words. Not that our mayor is a particular man of letters either.
My problem, honest to goodness, is between Mark Sheehan and Ken Shearin I can’t tell who is piping and who is dancing. Mr. Sheehan may claim he is “just a beat reporter on a story” but I don’t know who believes that anymore. The fact is, Mark Sheehan has smashed his professional integrity against the wall and become a partisan participant in the political process. Here is a blind item for you: What local journalist got caught burying Letters to the Editor negative to the mayor just cause it suit his personal worldview? Mark Sheehan deserves his opinion just like me, but because his thoughts gets printed twice a week in the only daily local newspaper [and I feel compelled to note his column is on the OPINION page, not the FACTS page] I believe we should expect to hold him to a higher standard.
Our mayor is light as a feather, depends on his favorite journalist to get a single coherent thought across to the citizenry and his actions would be comical if they wasn’t a stake through the heart of my hometown. Vince Capell is a hardheaded and stubborn bean-counter who won’t give the likes of Mark Sheehan the time of day.
Mayor Kenny couldn’t carry Vince Capell’s briefcase.
Posted by heritage on February 28, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)why, henry, you do know how to flatter a girl........
Posted by heritage on March 4, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)just to clear things up for you henry, lets just say that i am not penelope.
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