I'd like to second this motion by Ed PBurditt in his previous comment. Why does the council need a permanent president? With a monthly rotation all councilmembers and presumably all issues will receive a hearing. Bring it on! PS Scott can you ditch the editor's choice. It reminds me of Scott Peters giving his two cents. Let the readers decide what comments are valid or worthy of a gold star. Thanks buddy.

Posted by Norman | reply to this comment
November 3, 2008 7:27 pm

We don't have to reinvent the wheel. The County Board of Supervisors and the U..S. Congress have procedures that have been used for decades.. The County rotates its president every year. We can do the same. As to who should be in line for the post, we can follow congressional procedure, which is simply seniority.. Problem solved.

Posted by mel | reply to this comment
November 4, 2008 7:58 am

Before the strong mayor form of government, who set the docket? What happened in the past when there was no Council president? How did a Councilperson get something on the agenda? I think the committee system works. They should just use that.

Posted by Sue | reply to this comment
November 3, 2008 10:18 pm

Before the Strong Mayor form of government the City Manager would bring items forward. The City Manager would work with the Mayor's office to determine the docket, but the actual docket would be generated by the Mayor's office. City Councilmembers who wanted to put items on the agenda would typically issue a memo to a committee chairperson who would docket an item with the title "In the matter of ___." This allowed Councilmembers to bring issues forward. The Councilmember could present the item to the committee and the committee would decide if the issue needed further study. The item would then typically be referred back to the City Manager for analysis and possible discussion at Council. A similar system is still in place today, except that the Council President sets the Council docket and the Mayor's office acts as the City Manager.

Posted by Clif Williams | reply to this comment
November 4, 2008 9:18 am

Scott Lewis, as usual, you have hit the nail squarely on the head. The selection of the council president is a huge issue. I am also sure Peter's and his Pals are counting on the public to be too distracted by the election to notice what is going on. I like the idea of having the City Clerk open the meeting for the new council and have them select their president. It sounds fair. Fairness seems to be something the current council fears. Cudos to Maienschein for having the guts to take the right stand on this issue. I'll be waiting to see what Peters has to say when (if) he returns your call on this matter.

Posted by Linda J. Wilson | reply to this comment
November 4, 2008 7:37 am

Councilman Ben Hueso? Him President - What? Elected with the fewest votes and lowest percentage of total voters support EVER, I'm sure the wealthy developers and redevelopers would love to have him be the new council president. Crushes the idea of a Barrio Logan Community Planning group, then, afterwards, recluses himself from voting on anything to do with the Barrio; supposedly, because he and his family/friends own so much property in San Diego’s Barrios, is that right? Why not put the other sell-out into the position of council president; you know, why not put Young into that position – from my perspective he is just as big a failure and sell-out to the majority of people in his district as Hueso. Why not wait and see if Gloria is elected then have Tri-presidents! OMG! San Diego Democrats, is this really the best they have to offer us.

Posted by Iknowtodd | reply to this comment
November 4, 2008 10:32 am

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