Good evening, and welcome to an early edition of the Ames City Council.  Normally, the meetings are on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.  The city opted to move this first meeting up a week to accomodate next week's city elections. 

There are only a couple of issues on the agenda tonight.  The first is consideration of a new tagline.  You'll remember that the first one "Heartland's Leading Edge" was rejected as it soudned too much like that of Council Bluffs.  The choice for consideration is "Where Discovery Grows."  Your corespondant sincerely hopes the council approves this and allows us to get on with out lives.  The council will also consider changing an ordinance that would allow businesses to have wine and beer tastings without holding a liquor license.  There's been controversy on the issue as a number of Main Street businesses had attempted to hold these tastings but were turned down.

7:30P:  In a move that is at the same time surprising, yet wholy unsurprising given the nature of this whole silly issue, the council will wait three weeks to "discover" a new tag line for the city.  The issue was tabled under the guise that 2nd Ward city council member Jami Larson wasn't in attendence, and 3rd Ward member Jeremy Davis thought the decision should be made with all six members present.  That being said, Davis was very clear that he didn't like the proposed "Where Discovery Grows" or any of the other task force suggestions.  Davis said he thinks the issue should be put to the public for it's input.  1st Ward and At-Large members Tom Wacha and Peter Orazem both expressed the desire to move the issue forward, that there wasn't going to be a suggestion from the task force or the public that anyone would be able to agree upon.  For what it's worth, 4th Ward member Riad Mahayni joking (maybe only half-so) suggested that the issue be tabled until January...when he's not longer a member of the city council.