After Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed Eric Crafton's English Only bill in 2007 and Crafton vowed to entertain a public referendum, he went on a string of introductions of non-binding memorializing resolutions in Metro Council asking various parties to do various things. That was before 2008 brought him the opportunity and the Metro tax dollars to take English Only to the voters. Now that English Only has received the ultimate veto from the voters, it looks like CM Crafton is back to introducing memorializing resolutions.
MRs serve a constructive purpose except when one goes back to that well too many times and appears to be grandstanding rather than authoring significant ordinances, bills, and binding resolutions. Why am I so cynical to see tonight's Crafton MR as grandstanding? Because not only did CM Crafton a little over two years ago attempt to limit the number of MRs that could be introduced by requesting an unsuccessful rules change, but he responded to an English First MR offered as a non-binding, broadly-supported alternative to English Only by arguing that the MR would not do anything. Au contraire. If nothing else, MRs keep a CM's name in the public eye: witness today's City Paper coverage. Then again, the City Paper had its own problems in 2007 grasping the difference between the English Only resolution and the English-affirming MR.
Time will tell whether we will see even more MRs from CM Crafton leading to whatever his next big thing is. But I would bet on us seeing more.
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