Saturday's District 5 Debate: Brooks to Show, Craddock Continues to Deny Deal Brokering

Council member Mike Jameson dubbed the Kay Brooks school board appointment a Council black eye. Council member Michael Craddock--in seeming denial of the pummelling that caused the black eye--told the City Paper that he did "what was needed" because of his concern for schools. As usual, the dysfunctional machinery of the Metro Council has made a simple school board debate more controversial than need be. Otherwise, eyebrows would not be raised in some quarters when the title "incumbent" appears next to Kay Brooks name in print. But according to the NCP, Brooks intends to be there this time, because somehow in the span of only 4 or 5 weeks, she has gone from having limited experience to overcoming being overwhelmed enough to be the incumbent. I would have to call that improbable. I would have to say that the Brooks campaign obviously believes that showing up for this debate is as strategically astute as skipping the first debate before the May Council vote. However, the focus is increasingly moving away from the means used by the Metro Council that ultimately failed District 5 on this one. Voters in that district will have to pull their own butts out of the fire in August. But the rest of us are still left with this dysfunctional Council, and no chance for some cure until 2007.