Free Republic

While defunding the police has become the cause du jour for the City Council, they have approved funds to provide personal security for members of the Council. Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins defended the seemingly contradictory actions by insisting "there is a difference between making sure those governing the city are kept safe from harm and needlessly squandering scarce resources to fund police protection for the general public. Unlike the common people, Council members are essential to the smooth operation of the government. There are only eight of us. None can be spared. There are more than 400,000 residents of...

The FBI on Tuesday arrested a local attorney and four members of the city council in Toledo, Ohio, for their alleged participation in a bribery and extortion scheme. Tyrone Riley, Yvonne Harper, Garrick “Gary” Johnson, Larry Sykes and Keith Mitchell were charged with bribery and extortion in a federal criminal complaint after a two-year investigation, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). “As alleged in the Complaint, four Toledo City Council members and a local attorney have been engaged in a pay-to-play scheme involving bribes for Council votes,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said in a statement to Fox News Wednesday....

What do you do when your community faces crushing poverty, failing schools, and disturbing homicide rates? In Baltimore, the answer is: Ban plastic bags, of course. Yes, Charm City is saving the world, one plastic bag at a time. The Baltimore City Council passed a citywide ban on retailers’ use of plastic bags at checkout on a 13-to-1 vote Monday. If that weren’t enough, the city will now put a 5-cent charge on paper bags. The legislation now awaits signature by Mayor Bernard Young. If he signs it, it wouldn’t take effect until late next year. Councilwoman Danielle McCray was...

Despite Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declaring the nation's capital a "sanctuary city" for those who violate federal immigration law, one city councilman believes that additional legislation is needed to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement from removing illegal aliens from the city. WTOP reports that Ward Six Councilman Charles Allen has called for an emergency meeting this Tuesday to discuss a new bill that he says would stop all city agencies from cooperating with ICE unless given an explicit court order. This means that local police and other D.C. government officials would be barred from "sharing information with ICE, complying...

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution declaring the National Rifle Association a "domestic terrorist organization" and urged the federal government to do the same - the latest escalation in the heated rhetoric from Democrats regarding the NRA in the wake of several deadly mass shootings. The resolution, which passed Tuesday and says the U.S. is "plagued by an epidemic of gun violence," accuses the NRA of using "its considerable wealth and organization strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence." ------ The document resolves to assess the relationships that those who...

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to declare the National Rifle Association (NRA) a “domestic terrorist organization.” WHEREAS, Reported hate crimes have increased by double digits since 2015, and WHEREAS, There are over 393,000,000 guns in the United States, which exceeds the country’s current total population, and WHEREAS, Our elected representatives, including the President, have taken an oath swearing to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” … WHEREAS, The United States Constitution specifically delineates that the country was founded to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, and promote...

Fresh off a legislative victory for the billboard industry at Nationals Park, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans’ attempt to preserve a loophole for digital sign companies doing business in the District seemed inevitable—especially given his close ties with the vendor that stands to benefit the most. Evans recently introduced an emergency bill that would provide a permit exemption in certain cases—a boon for Digi Media Communications LLC, which already has installed numerous signs in violation of city rules and is looking to install dozens more throughout the District.

URGENT ALERT: IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DOUBLE YOUR TRIP TIMES AROUND TOWN - AND LIKELY YOUR TAXES - READ THIS AND COME TO COUNCIL NEXT TUES With zero public notice, the City of Phoenix has put a plan on agenda for next week called "Vision Zero". The major policy focus of this plan is a massive reduction in speed limits across ALL city streets. Boston adopted this program a few years ago and reduced all City streets to 25MPH. When that didn't work - and by "work" they mean eliminating ALL roadway fatalities - they developed a plan to...

Socialism is surging in City Council. A total of five democratic socialists, and possibly a sixth, won races for alderman either in February or in Tuesday’s runoff elections. That sixth candidate, Rosanna Rodriguez-Sanchez is trailing longtime Ald. Deb Mell by only a few dozen votes. Mell, whose family has represented the 33rd Ward for more than 40 years, is hoping that mail ballots will help her maintain her seat. Two members backed by the Democratic Socialists of America won in the first round in February. Carlos Ramirez Rosa won re-election in the 35th Ward. In the 1st Ward, Daniel La...

The mother of Michael Brown, the unarmed black 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014, is considering running for City Council in her home city of Ferguson, Missouri. “What I’m contemplating is running for City Council of Ferguson,” Brown’s mother, Lezley McSpadden, said during a panel on police brutality at Harvard University on Monday. McSpadden’s announcement was met with a roar of applause from the crowd and a “Run, Lezley! Run!” chant, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Michael Brown’s mother could soon have oversight over the police department connected to her son’s death, if voters in Ferguson, Missouri, elect her to the City Council. Lesley McSpadden, 39, is among three candidates running in Ferguson’s 3rd Ward on Tuesday. She faces incumbent Keith Kallstrom and Fran Griffin, who has been active on several boards in the St. Louis suburb, where two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black. […] “I wanted to go back and do something right in a place that did something so very wrong to my son, and I think that’s what my son would want...

DC City Council Chairman Phil Mendelson announced Monday that he along with several other council members would introduce a bill during Tuesday's session to repeal Initiative 77, the city's newly-passed $15 an hour minimum wage. (Snip) "I don't believe the law that Initiative 77 would put into place is good for our city, good for our restaurant industry or good for our workers," Evans told a local ABC affiliate. Evans and others on the city council as well as Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser have long been critical of the initiative.

Much respect for this Mark Robinson in Greensboro, North Carolina.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo_X53dNTS8  

The Pico Rivera City Council is demanding the resignation of one of its own members after he was caught on video delivering an anti-military rant in a classroom that has garnered national attention. The vote came after dozens of veterans and community members blasted City Councilman Gregory Salcido and called for his resignation for the video in which he criticized the intelligence of those who join the military. [SNIP] "My goal as it relates to my students as it relates to the military is to get them to do everything to get to college. It's not just the military. I...

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- The country's first all-LGBT city council was sworn in this week in California, CBS Los Angeles reports. The history-making council's newest members – Lisa Middleton, the first transgender person elected to a non-judicial office in California; and Christy Holstege, an attorney who identifies as bisexual – were sworn in during Wednesday night's meeting of the Palm Springs City Council.

Minneapolis has elected two black transgender representatives to its City Council, adding to what advocacy groups have described as a banner election for transgender people in public office. Andrea Jenkins easily won the race Tuesday night for an open seat in south Minneapolis, with roughly 73 percent of the vote. Jenkins, a 56-year-old poet and historian who transitioned in her 30s, spent years as a policy aide to two previous council members in the same ward. Phillipe Cunningham’s victory took longer because of Minneapolis’ instant-runoff voting system. But by Wednesday afternoon, the city announced Cunningham — a 29-year old transgender...

SEATTLE - The Seattle City Council voted 8 to 0 to prohibit landlords from using criminal records to screen prospective tenants. The only exception to the new ordinance are sex offenders. City leaders and supporters of the measure; 'Fair Chance Housing Ordinance' insist its goal is to reduce housing discrimination and barriers. Inside Seattle Council Chambers there was overwhelming support for a measure. In short, it will restrict how landlords can use arrest and conviction records to exclude prospective renters. Seattle landlords will no longer be able to ask about criminal records, pending charges, juvenile records or any arrest record...

The City of Fresno unveils its the new "In God We Trust" sign inside of council chambers. Last month the city council voted unanimously to put the motto on the wall inside the council chambers.

Great moments in local governance. City councils do this, of course. My city council is just as liberal, and they passed a resolution last year refusing to do business with North Carolina because of the transgender bathroom law. I’m sure North Carolina is dreading the imminent collapse of its economy without the dollars flowing from Royal Oak. But just because it’s common doesn’t make it any less absurd, and it’s all the more absurd when your gigantic city is awash in problems of its own - and could really use some focus from its leaders on solving those problems. Instead,...

PHOENIX — The Phoenix City Council will be asked to vote in two weeks on the issue of becoming a sanctuary city, a councilman said Wednesday. “A citizen dropped off a petition requiring a public vote on whether or not the city of Phoenix is going to vote on becoming a sanctuary city,” Councilman Sal DiCiccio said, who also tweeted the news.