The Portsmouth Town Council chambers were packed tonight, and most of the more than 60 people in attendance were wearing stickers showing support for the Potter League and their request for support for their capital fund. Unfortunately, due to miscommunication about deadlines for materials, the group was unable to do their presentation and action was deferred until Monday, May 4.

Christie Smith, the executive director, was allowed to make a brief statement and reiterated much the same thing said in her interview here: Regionalization works, there is a precedent for capital contributions, and this is a cost avoidance. Board chair Sheila Reilly added that "We never have or never will abandon animals of any community," and asked for a show of hands to see how many in the chamber had adopted from Potter. It appeared to be a majority.

Their request was rescheduled — with the rest of "civic support" — for next Monday night. For the uninitiated, "civic support" is exactly the same kind of euphemism as "unsuitable for placement" in animal-shelter speak. Unless there is a massive turnout that can sway the Council in a very difficult economic year, this one is looking at a needle.

Sigh. At least the packed house got treated to an otherwise very interesting session.

Chief Lynch (and his firefighters) got a standing ovation from the room for their work fighting the fire at the boatworks last week, and he reported on the outstanding mutual aid response, as well as the great work of our department. Including Portsmouth Lt. Jimmy Souza who, despite sustaining a broken leg, continued to hook up water supply and activate a hydrant, and waved the first responding rescue truck because he believed there was a civilian casualty.

Bob Andrews of the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC) reported very preliminary results from the initial economic workshop in March and reminded everyone to attend the followup on Thursday (see more details and sign up here.) Dame Judy Staven, however, had a bone to pick with the results from the first go-round. "Is that the one where we were putting all the little dots on the lines?" Staven asked. "We all had 6 dots. We could put as many dots as we wanted. How can this be valid if one person could put six stickers on one line."

Not having been at that meeting, I can only assume that Ms. Staven is totally unfamiliar with the notion of dotmocracy, a neologism for the well-established facilitation technique used in many workshop settings to help visualize energy around topics and make consensus visible and shared.

"It's a standard industry practice," Councilor Jim Seveney pointed out.

"I disagree with that," said Staven. But don't think she was totally alone out there on that limb, sawing away. Tailgunner Gleason had her back. "Your point is well taken," said Gleason.

I'll leave the last word to PEDC chair Rich Talipsky. "All our meetings are open," he said. "If the public wants to make comments about our analysis, I invite them to come to our meeting."

In other new business, the Council unanimously voted to support a resolution brought in by State Senator June Gibbs, urging the legislature to nix straight party voting. Jim Seveney tried to get an amendment tacked on that would have put the question to the people of the state, but it had no traction. And who would trust "the people," given one of the factoids Gibbs used to support her position. "In Central Falls 50% vote straight party and I'm sure they don't know what they're doing," said Gibbs.

Did I hear that wrong, or did the Honorable Senator just diss the folks from Central Falls? I'm not party-line partisan on this issue, but that argument makes me puke. And while I'm largely indifferent, the fact that Operation Clean Government and the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition have lined up in support makes me want to fight the idea, well, just because.

Then it was Business Development Director Bill Clark's turn at the podium, with the same item he brings to the Council every year: a request for the state to consider funding work on the Town Center project. Council President Peter McIntyre raised a concern that the newly kicked-off Aquidneck Island Planning Commission study of traffic on the Island might alter or negate some of the proposed features *cough* roundabouts *cough* and was one of the two votes against. At least I found his objection thoughtful and reasoned. Tailgunner went off on a tangent arguing that the proposal was trying to "accommodate developers" and "I'm at the point where I can say I can't go any further." She tried to argue that it was analogous to being a private property owner. "I needed to install a septic system. I didn't ask Mr. Hamilton to pay for it."

Can we decide, people, whether we're going to treat government as a business (in which case, we're investing in our infrastructure) or as a steward of the public good (in which case, we're creating the economic conditions for entrepreneurs to thrive.) Either way, arguments from private property don't work. Actually, wait a second, maybe they do. If I want to rent my house, I probably need to put in a new septic system. I don't have $25K handy, so I go to BankNewport and get a loan. And where do you think that money comes from, Ms. Gleason? "Why, the money's not here," I say, going off into the "Wonderful Life" Jimmy Stewart voice that drives my wife crazy, "It's in your house...and your house...and your house." Yeah, Tailgunner, when you put in your septic system, I'll bet you asked A WHOLE FREAKING LOT OF PEOPLE for money. You just did it through the intermediary of a bank. You asked other people to lend you money, which you anticipated paying back because of the increased value of your property. Just like investing in public infrastructure pays a community back by creating jobs and broadening the tax base. But I digress.

Councilor Plumb put it succinctly: "It's going to cost money anyway," he said. "If we don't do any of that we're going to have to go to property taxes above the cap. If we don't approve the town center, [we're still] going to have to fill the [budget] gap. We have a crumbing infrastructure." He tried to appeal to the intelligence and talent of folks in Portsmouth at coming up with approaches to smart growth. "We have Middletown as an example," he said. "Portsmouth is smart enough to come up with a plan."

Expect much, much more yammering and sputtering at the yet-to-be-scheduled workshop on the Town Center.

Finally, in a rare feel-good proposal, Councilor Huck Little suggested part of the Glen be tilled and set up as a community garden. "Remember the Victory Gardens in '42," he asked. While some of the logistics need to be ironed out (water, and, as audience member attendee and master gardener James Garman pointed out, fencing to deal with inevitable deer) the Council voted to support the move and tasked Town Administrator Bob Driscoll with working out the details.

Meeting adjourned about 9:05.