I couldn’t wait to complete my final high school gym class. At 5’10” and 123 pounds, I was like Olivoil in the Popeye cartoon. If one of the big football players threw a ball at me, he could literally knock me over – and that was if the ball barely missed me. A direct hit left a mark. For me, gym class was one of those defining moments wherein I decided I wanted an indoor career that didn’t involve heavy lifting.

While gym class was traumatizing, it taught me the value of thinking, communicating, and making wise decisions. Similarly, the city council is facing a moment of truth tonight. Passage of Resolution 06-0210R as amended by Councilor Stauber (one that calls to accept funding from the Department of Economic Development for the Workforce Development Center at City Hall) is a watershed moment that will demonstrate whether or not the city is really willing to conquer the retiree health care issue.

Normally resolutions accepting funding that are earmarked for a certain project are unremarkable. Simply put, the business is done before the vote. The vote then is just a formality. In this case, however, Councilor Stauber tacked on an amendment that calls for the city to only accept the funding if the city can pay for the retiree health care benefits of the Workforce workers – something in principle the city councilors and mayor agreed to do previously (on December 19, 2005, the city council unanimously agreed to support Retiree Health Care Task Force recommendations. On January 9, 2006, Mayor Bergson supported Retiree Health Care Task Force recommendations, including charging each program and operation an amount to fund retiree health insurance). The question tonight is: Will there be enough political will to do what the council has said they will do?

To be sure, nobody wants to see the retiree health care coverage go away. Nor does anyone want to see the thirty workers of the Workforce Development Center laid off. Yet, citizens expect our leaders to approach this problem with common sense, transparency, and be accountable to the citizens once they have made tonight’s decision.

Thirty years after my last gym class I am a better off because of the hard lessons I learned in that class. Tonight, let us hope the council is not learning but leading.