For the Best Entertainment Bargain Try a Manchester Board of Aldermen Meeting

I wrote an earlier column about how attending board of aldermen meetings can be like attending theater, comedy one minute and drama another. I would hate to let it be known, but they can be fun to attend. Every few minutes there seems to be a different type of television show unfolding live in front of your eyes. Here are some more examples.

“Is that thing working? Kick it will you,” joked Town and Country Mayor Jon Dalton referring to the three-minute countdown clock that faces speakers addressing the board of aldermen. The comment came after two speakers combined took 25 minutes to address the board. 

The three-minute countdown clock is a thing that gets ignored on a regular basis at the Manchester meetings, where the best dramatic and comedic performances take place every two weeks.   

The beginning of the Feb. 22 meeting started off with Aldermen Bob Tullock and Hal Roth wanting to add last-minute resolutions to the agenda. In addition, Aldermen Tullock had already submitted a resolution to discuss censuring fellow Alderman Mike Clement, for a recent ethics violation in regard to campaign finance laws. This resolution to discuss the issue was on the agenda prior to the start of the meeting.

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Clement was not at the meeting so the aldermen went back and forth arguing whether it was fair to discuss and then vote to censure Clement when he could not defend himself. The back and forth arguing simply stoked up a number people in the audience, especially when Alderwoman Marilyn Ottenad told Roth and Tullock they had managed to "go to a new low."  

Then it was time for public comments. Apparently Manchester's three-minute timer was not working that night, like it had failed many times before. The three-minute clock was about to expire while resident Kevin McGowan was reprimanding Roth and Tullock, McGowan turned and asked the crowd, “I’m going over my three minutes. Do you have a problem with that?”

 A large portion of the audience shouted, “No.” Some urged him on yelling out, “Go ahead!” This caused others to applaud.

Mayor Dave Willson reminded McGowan that he should be asking the board permission to go over his time limit, McGowan did just that and the mayor allowed McGowan to talk close to double the allotted time.

“If I lived in Ward-1 I would run against you and win!” McGowan shouted toward Tullock and Roth. “I grew up in Chicago. My father knew Mayor Daley. This is nothing.”

Later when Dale Schmid, who was running for the Ward-3 seat against Alderman Don Ryan in the April election, but withdrew his name right before the filing deadline, was addressing the alderman he was interrupted by Manchester City Attorney Patrick Gunn. This caused Tullock to call for a point of order from Mayor Wilson to allow Schmid to continue without being interrupted. At one point all four were speaking at the same time.

 It was as if the audience was being treated to many different types of television.  The meeting had gone from drama to soap opera to the McLaughlin Group.

When Schmid was finished Dan O’Brien stepped up. O’Brien pointed at Schmid sitting in the front row and said, “This nut job, yes this guy is a nut job.” Now an episode of the Jerry Springer show was about to break out as a police officer quietly walked toward the front of the room.  

Chuck Barnes was next to the podium.

“I was really excited moving to Manchester. I am not now. We share a zip code with Ballwin. That is where I tell people I live,” he said to the aldermen.

We then got a taste of “House Hunters” on HGTV. Local realtor Gary Hoeferkamp accused the aldermen that their bickering was creating so much bad publicity for Manchester that it could affect property values.

“There are cities attracting people to move there and there are cities repelling people,” said Hoeferkamp.

If you like medical and doctor shows there is normally one medical event at every meeting. You can sit back and watch City Attorney Patrick Gunn’s blood pressure go up. It seems to me that when Gunn gets frustrated by board members, Tullock in particular, or residents, he turns bright red in seconds. 

There are also regular Court TV segments. Gunn will often give unsolicited legal opinions which will normally bring a dissenting opinion from Tullock. Gunn will often respond with a comment such as, “Of course alderman you are not an attorney you just play one on this dais.”

Gunn asked Tullock what his authority was to ask for a vote to censure a fellow alderman.

“Is this an idea you got from Town and Country? Where does this come from,” asked Gunn making a reference to the by the Town and Country alderman of David Karney.   

There is also Church TV at the meetings.

Alderwoman Ottenad starts off each meeting with a prayer following the Pledge of Allegiance. It's called an “invocation” which seems to get around Supreme Court rulings about prayers in public buildings by public officials.

The Manchester aldermanic meetings can provide parts of six or seven different types of TV shows all in a two hour meeting.  You should go some night. In fact, the next meeting at 7 p.m. March 7 should be an interesting one. The censuring issue is set to be back on the agenda.