I had drinks with, and breakfast with, a fairly good mix of City Hall insiders who work inside and outside City Hall on various matters over the last few days. As an aside I asked them what they thought of the new Councilwoman Sherri Lightner. To a person, the response was positive. From the comments, Lightner sounds non-ideological and pragmatic, and not as tied to the labor unions as the unions would have had us all believe in their post election crowing. She sounds logical, rather than political. There is even a story that Lightner felt bullied by the unions, and has been pretty hostile to them ever since. Lightner may be a Democrat, but if she supports reform and is against more business as usual at City Hall, so be it.

The reviews of 7th District Councilwoman Marti Emerald could not have been more opposite. Let me quote: "crude", "loud", "a shill for labor", "smart as a rock" - and I could go on. One table literally errupted when Emerald's name came up, and these folks were not exactly stalwart Republicans. I have to point out that one staff member pointed out that Emerald is still an obsessive Red County reader... which annoys her staff. Sounds to be like Emerald is just about living up to expectations.