Say 'yes' again

There were a lot of “yes” men at the Board of Aldermen meeting last week.

Actually, one wasn’t present in the aldermanic chamber, yet still managed to say “yes” at least 16 times.

Ward 1 Alderman Mark Cookson couldn’t attend the meeting because of a family emergency. However, Cookson did participate in the meeting via a telephone speakerphone.

State law allows a public official to take part in meetings through such a hookup, but he must identify any person who is with him at the time.

The law requires all votes conducted at the meeting, including votes on such routinematters as approving minutes or accepting correspondences, to be conducted by role call, noted Alderman-at-Large Steven Bolton, the board president.

The result was that each of the 12 aldermen present at the meeting voted “yes” – or “no” – individually throughout the meeting.

By a quick count, aldermen notched roughly 200 yes or no votes, extending the meeting and at times soliciting chuckles at endless repetition.