Live, it's pols in Tryon (NC, not Street)

I checked in about 8:15 to the Charlotte City Council retreat in Tryon, N.C., where a "winter storm event" is scheduled to hit about midnight. So far, no word that the honorables plan anything other than to gut it out and then slide home on U.S. 74 and I-85 tomorrow afternoon.

This morning they're hashing out the "council/staff operating agreement" which, if you pay attention to issues as they move through the process, is actually rather significant. Maybe. Depends on whether they abide by what they come up with. It repeats the words "mutual respect" several times. As if, perhaps, staff has been feeling beat up on by some elected officials in the past? AND as if, perhaps, elected officials have felt as if staff was treating them like children in the past? (Those are my observations only. Nothing that direct has been said here.)

The issue of whether to include the word "risk" in the document vs. adding the word "creative" came up. CDOT head Danny Pleasant suggested that the document should pair creativity with "risk tolerance." I.e., creativity means you take some risks.

MORE to come, on the role of special interest groups.