Obviously, the current relationship between council and mayor is strained. Given that I took an oath to uphold the law, I have an obligation to stand up when I believe that the charter of the city is being violated. I cannot and will not sacrifice my integrity for the sake of “peace” at city hall. However, I refuse to respond in kind to those who have resorted to name calling. No one can expect that there will be agreement on all issue. However, citizens have a right to expect that their elected officials will handle the situation in a respectful manner and I believe that I have acted in that spirit. City Council and the Mayor have and will continue to work together on a lot of issues. For instance, the ordinance to purchase the building in the 2200 block of Chamberlayne Av. for the relocation of the 4th police precinct was patroned by Mayor Wilder, Ellen Robertson and myself. These items do not usually make the evening news because conflict is a more interesting story.

The model that I see for council-mayor relations would be that of mutual respect and cooperation via the sharing of information between the 2 branches of government. After all, we both work for the citizens. Should I be re-elected, I look forward to implementing this system with a new mayor.

When I think of the current relationship between the mayor and city council, the words confusion and chaos are the first in line. In the future, both entities need to remeber they are on the same team and should be working closely together to perform the people’s business in a swift, efficient and cost frugal way.