City Attorney Calonne

The Council Umpire

The theme of Calonne's talk was a refreshing post-election non-partisan civics lesson. Perhaps even less political than may be thought, Calonne described his duties as he sees them. The analogy used was that of a baseball umpire. The umpire allows batters (city council) to hit the ball (issues) wherever they like within the field. His job is to stop the council when they are getting into foul territory. Calonne emphasized creativity in the position in putting every effort into making the playing field as wide as possible. He noted the easiness of a person in his position to become an "abominable no-man", stifling the members to a point of ineffectiveness.