We’re relatively certain that when our hard-working council members are out amongst the rabble, they often go unrecognized. Theirs is not, after all, the sort of high-profile position that is often featured on the evening news (so long as they steer clear of the FBI, at least). But in the familiar confines of City Hall, everybody pretty much knows everybody else.

The city has worked long and hard to spruce up downtown, but that doesn’t mean that beauty and practicality don’t sometimes collide.

Take last week's encounter between members of the Transportation and Public Works Committee and the well-meaning folks from the Carlyle condo project on Third Avenue. The Carlyle blueprint originally called for planters connected to the building, a plan that was rejected by Heritage Preservation Commission. So the developers moved the planters out to the curb, a plan that was vetoed by the Public Works Department because they interfered with pedestrian traffic. Distraught, the Carlyle folks appealed the decision and came to the committee hoping for some compromise.

Today’s council meeting was dragging through a protracted debate about the joys and sorrows of the city’s current garbage contract, when quite out of the blue the p.a. system in chambers erupted with a thumping disco beat from some unidentified source. The music left council president Barbara Johnson speechless, but our mayor, seated at the far end of the dais, jumped right into some righteous dance moves.

We learned today that Ward 9 Council Member Gary Schiff is a bit of a basketball fan--at least when a certain player is on the court.

This revelation came to light midway through the council’s agenda when the matter of a new bar’s liquor license approval came up for a vote. The establishment, called NBA City and located in the Target Center, where our Timberwolves play, caught the attention of CM Schiff, who suggested the council place a rather peculiar condition on its liquor license approval.

With the mayor and the City Council gradually moving through its biennial re-appointment dance, we’ve had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Duane Reed in chambers more often than usual.

Mr. Reed, the articulate leader of the local chapter of the NAACP, typically appears whenever there is a mayoral appointment to be confirmed. He strides up to the podium and cautions council members about “transparency” in the appointment process and the need to cast a wide net so applicants of all backgrounds may be considered.

We’re not privy, of course, to the really inside political wrangling that occurs at the upper levels of City Hall, but we were reminded today in council chambers that there are dark dealings that seldom are exposed to the public light.

The City Hall rotunda was packed for this morning’s inauguration, with such luminaries as Sen. Mark Dayton and St. Paul Mayor-Elect Chris Coleman in attendance. Even our furtive police chief, William McManus showed up, resplendent in his dress blues.

The best of several great lines in today’s farewells to the four Council Members who are ending their City Hall service came from the ever-intriguing Natalie Johnson Lee.

She tipped her cap to city staff, who “have to serve multiple personalities--sometimes in the same person” before turning to Mayor R.T. Rybak and quipping, “Work on the hair thing, OK?”

We stumbled today on a bit of history. Mr. Jim Moncur, who for 30 years labored in the city’s license department, was making the rounds to say goodbye. Unencumbered by suit coat or tie, the affable Mr. Moncur made his way among staffers and council members at the Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee, receiving handshakes and hugs all around.

We stopped off at the mayor’s office before today’s CODEFOR meeting and were delighted to see Mayor Rybak’s bodyguard, Officer Mike Kirchen. We chatted for a few minutes about our shared rotator cuff problems (he’s having surgery next year; we’re not), and as we ambled down the hall toward the council chambers for the weekly police meeting, I asked him where the mayor was.