Rodstrom: “I’m No Baby!”
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Commissioner John Rodstrom has a problem with what I wrote.
Oh, well. It isn’t the first time.
He took issue with a headline and some words in a post Tuesday. It called Rodstrom and Commissioner Lois Wexler “babies” for making a fuss when Mayor Stacy Ritter requested that they change seats on the dais.
“I don’t think I’m acting like a baby, Rodstrom said.
Rodstrom said there is no precedent for a mayor rearranging the seats on the dais. They don’t have the power to tell other commissioners where to sit.
He should know. First elected in 1992, no one has been a commissioner longer.
Also, he would have liked to have been asked, rather than ordered by Ritter to move.
“I’ve sat in the same seat for 16 years. I even had a light installed when I turned 42 (and my eyesight became worse) so I could see better, Rodstrom said. “Doesn’t seniority count for something?
Rodstrom also stuck up for Wexler, saying it is traditional that outgoing mayors sit next to the new mayor.
Ritter wanted Commissioner Ilene Lieberman sitting next to her rather than Wexler, who she shuffled off down the dais.
Seatgate’s roots lie in arcane inside commission politics, Rodstrom postulates.
He believes Ritter mistakenly blames him for some bad media coverage she has received.
Rodstrom’s bottom line: “I’m not moving.
Stay tuned. This may get fun.
The county commission standing on the infamous dais
before Stacy Ritter was sworn in as mayor. Rodstrom is
second from the left. Ritter is in black in the middle to the left
of Wexler, in yellow.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Doesn’t this prove Rodstrom is the baby he says he isn’t?
November 19th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
How many commissioners does it take to change a light bulb?
November 19th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Rodstrom, move on and get over your “hissy fit” and come to some sense. It’s your last tenure, who cares?
November 20th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Dear lord that’s why nothing ever gets done on the commission or take an inordinate amount of time, they rehash and rethink things so much they forgot what it was all about in the beginning. We definitely need new faces on the commission and I really thought Brian Caletca would have been a great asset, he had fresh new ideas. And no I’m not anybody from his campaign, I;m just an educated voter.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I love your site, I have addeded it to my bookmarks and will come again soon. Keep up the good work.
FROM BUDDY: Thank you very much!!!
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Lauderhill, the Mayor has decided where the Commissioners sit. The Commissioners do not own the seats. If anyone owns them, its the public.
The Mayor sits in the middle, the Vice Mayor and the Deputy Vice Mayor seat on either side of the Mayor for convenience sake. The newest member sits next to the City Attorney on the end (so they can get help they may need), and the remaining one sits on the other side next to the City Manager (which can also provide some help). In case of an unforseen situation, the Mayor has the senior member pick from the available seats. It just makes sense.
I don’t see why the County can’t work the same way.