QUID HAS HEARD that the new kids on the Aurora City Council block are having the usual growing pains in their new roles as elected nabobs, or in some instances inflicting a little pain. Seems that new-bees Dave Gruber, Allison Hiltz , Nicole Johnston and Crystal Murillo have found their seats and “yes” buttons on the dais, but not everyone’s sure how the buttons and the rules work. This week, the city council took the advice of a band of Girl Scouts and made it a crime, rather than a damn shame, to smoke or vape in a car with kids inside. Delighted to have Aurora girls take such an interest in local Democracy, and rally around a cause that, almost everybody can, city council unanimously gave all their green lights to green-lighting the almost-law. Almost. It seems that after the measure got 9 green lights from Club Nabob, Gruber took to Twitter to not just dis the measure, but run over it a few times. “Strongly against criminalizing bad parenting. (smoking in car, sugar drinks) Just because government can deny liberty for unhealthy choices, doesn’t mean we should. #inalienable rights,” Gruber said in a dispatch to his 78 readers. So why kick a bill you voted for, asked a hack from this rag? He said he voted for the bill “In order to add a sunset provision to the ordinance. If I had voted no, the ordinance would apply forever without review.” Your faithful hack requests someone on the top floor of city hall send Councilman Gruber a copy of Robert’s Rules or provides one of “those visits” from Robert’s best friend, the wonky Councilman Charlie-aka-former-city-attorney Richardson. Many a lawmaker has inserted poison pills in legislation they later huffily oppose. No need to go along with a troop of Ayn Rand haters when you make it to the top. As to filling a car with lethal carcinogens for kids to huff as a family being “bad parenting,” Quid would hope Gruber’s line is drawn a bit lower, cough, cough. The American Cancer Society has info much more accurate than Fox News. On the other side of Aurora’s virtual aisle, Hiltz’ line drawn against all that’s not good and civil needs to come down a ways, your faithful hack disrespectfully suggests. During the good-Girl-Scout lobbying for their own bill, veteran Councilman Bob “Get Off My Lawn You Jerks” LeGare quipped that it’s too bad Aurora has to have a law to enforce common sense. Parents who are too “stupid” to refrain from smoking in cars with kids “should put their kids up for adoption.” That prompted a civility rebuke from Hiltz, who said the city’s esteemed nabobs should refrain from dumbing down the city’s stupid people. Quid has only to add, wait until the pit-bull ordinance comes back. Quid is with stupid.
AND THAT’S ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS
Quidnunc, who gets his name from the Latin “what now,” is out and about as often as possible to bring you news overheard in elevators, rest rooms and spied in various e-mail boxes.