IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR - PART "TROIS"

Commissioner Chris Mathiesen – (B-)

Hi again.  Some of you might ask, why give Mathiesen a B-?  The reason is that Mathiesen ran on a platform that he is sticking to and he is taking a beating for it.  I feel  it is his opponents that are crying the loudest.  There is talk around town that former Commissioner Dick Wirth whom Mathiesen beat will be running against him this fall.  That would be a mistake.  In the past I referred to Wirth as a bobble head as he always nodded whenever the Mayor spoke.  He rarely spoke more that 20 words at a Council meeting if that.

Getting back to Mathiesen, some of his ideas were (a) to turn back closing time of bars by 2 hours).  While he did propose this, the push was to have last call at 2 and close at 4, however everyone could not remove the blinders and kept the bar owners and some of the citizens up in arms that God forbid the consumption of alcohol had to be shortened or at least those who stayed out past 2am had to pound down the amount of alcohol they normally would have if the bars stayed open until 4 and the loss of income would ruin the City as a tourist destination.

Something good did come out of all the furor though, bars in the City now have to hire licensed security guards and they have installed a system whereby one establishment can contact the others and warn them of a potentially inebriated person(s).  Remember also, that all bars must serve food until they close even if it is just sandwiches; this helps someone to get something in their system to help them, hopefully.

I personally believe the Commissioner when he speaks of the girl that was raped in the early morning hours in the latter part of last year.  It is a tough balancing act when trying to protect a victim, still conducting the investigation and trying to appease the public on what information to make public without jeopardizing that investigation.  Today, it seems that we should know all the facts even if it could prove harmful to the victim or the investigation; this is the world we live in.

One problem with the way the situation was handled though was the Commissioner’s constant talking and explanations of the incident.  This is one of the Commissioner’s faults.  He should make his statements and then not carry on with being so verbose about the topic, example: when the lady who presented the petition requesting more information addressed the Commissioner (which under the Charter, you are not supposed to do), instead of going into the whole explanation again, he should have just offered those concerned to make an appointment and that he would be glad to talk it over with them.  Commissioner, make a statement, then stop talking. 

All in all I think he is doing a fine job. Again, he ran on a platform, won and is carrying it out, what more can you ask of an elected official.


This is his Deputy’s second go around with a different Commissioner. I think she is very knowledgeable working with the departments, remember, Public Safety is the only department with 2 professionals running them the Police and Fire Departments.