There’s a lot of celebrating going on in Columbia right now, as City Councilman E.W. Cromartie will be resigning his position in light of a tax evasion scandal that broke on Monday morning. Cromartie, who has been in office since for about as long as we’ve been alive, has appeared to come to the end of his political road.

Few people we’ve run into that have had to deal with the City Council have good things to say about Cromartie, as rumors were traded among insiders about this action or that deal wasn’t on the up-and-up. To us, he seemed like one of those municipal elected officials that you find in mid-size cities that nobody really likes but who never gets a serious challenge.

In 2008, we surmised that the only thing that would knock Mr. Cro out would be a crime, not an election challenge. It’s come to pass, with the Feds getting him on non-payment of $25,000 in taxes from 2006, and creatively doing deposits and withdrawals to not get flagged by IRS reporting rules. According to the AP, Cromartie will plead guilty and serve 366 days in prison.

Many Columbians’ unsatisfied desire to raise chickens in an urban setting just got that much closer to becoming a reality. Wednesday morning, the CIty Council gave approval on the first vote on a measure that would allow people to raise chickens — in a coop — in the city. Of course, being that they’re chickens in Columbia, they would probably just be mediocre and produce eggs that are just big enough to be acceptable, even though you wanted better (here ends the absurd allegory).

According to the ordinance, you would not be allowed to have roosters and would be required to maintain the coop so it doesn’t emit a foul smell or attract flies. That’s all well and good, but where’s the push for backyard chickens? Has the organic food movement and other related culinary crazes gone so far that people are clamoring to raise and slaughter their own chickens? Or is it just about the eggs? Is Publix that bad?

Even Mayor Bob thinks it’s funny.

[Councilman E.W. Cromartie's] arguments did not deter Mayor Bob Coble, who voted for the ordinance by saying “Go ‘Cocks.”

We came damn close to going to the meet-and-greet for Columbia City Councilman and mayoral candidate Kirkman Finlay III tonight. What would be the vibe? Would it be just rich country club Republican types? But, eh, when the time rolled around, we weren’t feeling it. Brad Warthen decided to talk to Finlay this morning, though, and ended up being greeted by a stack of data.

Finlay is the resident budget maven on the Council, so he had all these spreadsheets and the like, and talked about the city’s truly shitty, shitty, shitty fiscal situation. Warthen says, in effect, that Finlay is better suited to his current position — as an opposition figure — than actually leading Columbia. Makes sense. Then, there was anxiety about figuring out Finlay’s data.

For the past several weeks, there has been some activity regarding improper loans given by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to the City of Columbia and then to people close to two City Council members. The loans involved Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine and Councilman Daniel Rickenmann. Ironically, they’re the two at-large members of the Council.

Both of the HUD loans were for business development in the Sumter-Columbia Empowerment Zone. Interestingly in regard to Devine, one loan was made to her mother, Veronica Isaac, for $280,000. Isaac used that money to purchase a building at 1419 Richland Street. She then rented out the building to Devine’s law firm. HUD said the problem was that the loan wasn’t used to create any new jobs in the Zone. Subsequently, Isaac had to repay the loan to the city and the city then sent the cash back to HUD.

For Rickenmann, it involves two now-defunct Birds On A Wire restaurants he started, one of which was outside the Zone. The loan was $179,000 to the two businessmen, Bryan Singleton and Cameron Jordan Jr., who bought the restaurants from Rickenmann. While the Councilman says he has documentation that nothing untoward occurred, HUD apparently has documents that report the money was a part of the purchase. When the restaurants went belly-up, the gentlemen defaulted on the loan. According to The State, there is the possibility that the city will have to repay that one, as well.

No matter where the blame is placed or how it is divided, the city government has yet again fallen down on the job of monitoring to whom the checks are cut and what’s being done with the money that is being doled out. How long is it going to be before there’s an overhaul of the Council and the people who run the city finances?

Grant Robertson, proprietor of F-Stop and co-host of “Drinking in the Morning,” started off running with partner-in-crime Aaron Johnson for Columbia mayor. But, after some deliberation, Johnson is remaining in the mayoral race while Robertson is taking another tack.

As we were advised yesterday, Robertson is going to be challenging Tameika Isaac Devine for her at-large city council seat. Don’t be distracted by his formidable whiskers — this is a solid fella. Running on the Cocktail Party ticket, the campaign looks to be an entertaining affair while concentrating on the city’s pressing issues. This is how Robertson introduced himself a few weeks ago:

Born and raised in West Columbia, I’ve been a lab assistant in an Intermediate Energy Nuclear Physics Lab, worked a 10-key at a local bank, a sandwich maker, delivered pizzas, read meters for the gas company, and worked master control at a local television station…and in that order. I finally stepped up to take an active role in the community by opening my own business in 2008 – something that was only possible because I had the support of the great people of this city and its institutions. As a business owner and active member of my community I have seen real room for improvement and change that will make this city not only great, but incredible!

But seriously, we sat down with him for a decent amount of time and — brace yourself — we’re offering our first endorsement, ever. WR puts its full support behind Robertson’s city council campaign. Considering Kirkman Finlay III will be off the council after next year’s elections, the city’s going to need another faithful representation of facial hair in local government.

Columbia City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann should really have someone talk to him. You know, a good sit-down, like you’d do with a child that just got a 17 on a test. Yes, the student got the concept that it was a test and that answers should be given, but other wise it was an epic fail. Such is what Rickenmann did at the City Council meeting Wednesday.

According to The State’s Adam Beam’s tweet, the at-large member thought it would be a good idea to raise hospitality tax revenue by getting Carolina to — and we’re not kidding here — schedule more noon kickoffs so that fans will stick around and go to dinner and other such activities.

Let’s go through the number of reasons this is one of the most asinine comments to come out of City Council in a while (and that’s saying something). First, there is a reason most games in the South are scheduled for after 6 p.m. — it’s too fucking hot out. People will fall out, have health problems, &c. Even well-conditioned football players will be at risk for dehydration, cramping and other such issues. It’s bad enough with a 3:30 p.m. CBS start. OK, that’s one thing.

Second is Carolina doesn’t have much control over what time when the games are played. The Southeastern Conference, ESPN and CBS have deals that decide who plays on what channel and at what time. Obviously, Rickenmann didn’t consider that USC would have to, some way, somehow, throw a spanner in the works of the millions and millions of dollars involved for the networks, the conference and yes, the member institutions.

If Columbia wants to raise more cash from the hospitality tax, making unreasonable suggestions about seven weekends out of 52 might not be the best idea.

OK, we kid the old state mental hospital on Bull Street. Mental illness is nothing to joke about. Unless you joke about it. Our uncle spent some time in Columbia before we moved here, and made a number of rather funny jokes about “getting sent to Bull Street.” Really, it had more nuts than a Cromer’s store.

But, it’s also for sale. And, the Columbia City Council, thanks to members Belinda Gergel and (ugh) E.W. Cromartie, voted to call the site an “architectural preservation district.” Per The State’s Jeff Wilkinson:

Preservationists said the overlay will preserve historic buildings and enhance the value of the property. The Mental Health Commission, which controls the property, said it might impede the sale of the 181-acre campus. It plans to use the proceeds to treat its patients.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we have to do it right,” City Council member Gergel, a former history professor and former president of the Historic Columbia Foundation, said prior to the meeting. “That means preserving the signature buildings and making sure they are here for future generations to appreciate.”

Naturally, we support the plan to preserve the campus, because we’re history nerds. Also, friends of ours broke into one of the buildings about four or five years ago and and stole a fire evacuation plan from an abandoned building. Yes, it may have seemed OK to investigate a structure that had a 10-foot-high stack of mid-’90s Sports Illustrateds, but — damn. We can’t think of anything to say against that. It seems like a lot of fun if it doesn’t end up as the beginning to a horror movie.

According Gene Green, interest in the property has been “quality, not quantity.” We’ve heard some people want to turn the site into the Capital City’s Central Park. We’ll see if that’s possible.