Mayor deftly avoids substance in first address
News analysis
By Cheryl Ellis 02/14/2008
There was the young couple in the front, the man wearing a black hoodie looking like he came straight from the tattoo shop on Main Street and his girlfriend sitting beside him in a fashionably skimpy white shirt and skin-tight jeans. There was the sea of professionals in business suits surrounding the ex-mayors who also occupied the front row of the City Council Chamber. There were a few men with the stereotypical middle-aged surfer’s shoulder-length, grey hair wearing linen button-downs and jeans. And of course there were the reporters, the Council members themselves and the political-types that spend the majority of these events seeing and trying to be seen. There were even a couple kids present to round out the event.
This hodgepodge of people was a perfect fit for the event as the mayor began her address with a pseudo-dedication to the people from all walks of life in Ventura. In fact, Mayor Weir got a bit choked up when the picture of her 93-year-old father seated next to her two daughters appeared on the large projection screen to represent the many walks of life from which Ventura’s residents are drawn. (It is interesting that they are from the same family, which led us to ask: How different could their lives really be? But we’ll let that slide Madame Mayor, and concede that they, in fact, are different ages.) After this near-Hillary Clinton-esqe show of emotion, she read about 20 letters from 10-year olds to start off her address.
Josh Wagner, 8, said he appreciated this part of the address and “found it interesting to hear from kids like” himself.
Apparently Mayor Weir felt the same way, because the speech went on to touch on each and every suggestion posed by the fifth grade students, concentrating on the beautification of the city, removal of litter, resolving homelessness and making the city more environmentally friendly – through beautification projects. Though she touched on them, the mayor certainly did not meander into the depths of heavier issues such as budget cuts, the cost of the Code Red Phone System or coastal conservancy projects.
Overall the crowd was beautiful, the video presentation was beautiful, the delivery was beautiful and the message came through loud and clear: This administration is going to do everything possible to keep Ventura beautiful.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT