This will have to come out in pieces...

Tonight's special city council workshop went 3.5 hours.  There was a good crowd at the start.  By the end, it was the council, the mayor, 4 city staff, the police chief, the sergeant-at-arms, Philip Jankowski and me.  We should get t-shirts.

It was mostly positive.  The first hour was business -- bringing the council up to speed on the consent agenda for Tuesday's council meeting.  The rest was training, which was valuable for almost everyone in the room.

I need time to get my notes in order. I'll just drop off a few general observations tonight:

• The council members seemed to get along well.  I would describe the atmosphere as collegial.  It's a good start down a long road.
• With one exception, the council paid close attention and asked good questions.  They didn't ask all the questions I wanted them to (I'll get into that tomorrow), but every time a member opened his or her mouth, it was to clarify something or introduce a new aspect of the subject.  I was impressed.
• Dr. Shanaa mentioned that the conservative prediction for Killeen population in 2030 is 158,000.  That doesn't mean annexing Harker Heights; it means growing another Harker Heights.  It's a sobering statistic and a good one for the current council to keep in mind, because decisions this council makes will still be felt by those 158,000 people 17 years from now.