The good news is that a Marietta City Council majority voted to obtain independent legal and financial opinions on the proposal to issue refinancing bonds on the city-owned hotel-conference center.

The Council majority accepted the recommendations of a blue-ribbon advisory committee formed by Councilman Grif Chalfant to review the complex bond plan after it was rejected by the council Sept. 9.

The bad news is that the motion for the independent reviews squeaked through by the barest majority, 3-2. The opposing members were Philip Goldstein and Annette Lewis. Abstaining was Anthony Coleman, strangest move of all.

Of course, the reviews were opposed by Mayor Bill Dunaway who threw the complicated refinancing plan in the council's lap before Labor Day weekend with a vote set in a week.

Dunaway and newfound ally Goldstein voiced concern about the $30,000 in fees for the outside reviews.

All of a sudden they're worried about fees?

What about all the other fees and costs in this bond-doggle? For starters, there's the $350,000 fee for the longtime bond advisor and legal counsel. Then there's the prepayment fee of $4-plus million or more on the old bonds being refinanced.

All too typical of today's elitist politicians, Goldberg had the gall to suggest that the citizens committee "misunderstood" the bond proposal.

So the members of the committee just weren't smart enough to understand the plan? Such heavy hitters as Larry Stevens, retired partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, misunderstood the numbers? James Powell, chairman and CEO of Highland Commercial Bank, couldn't figure out the plan?

And it was also misunderstood by committee members Scott Gregory, attorney with Brock, Clay; former city manager Jack Crane; Dr. Warren Herron, Marietta Ethics Committee chairman; retired businessman Steve Imler; and retiree Bill Sprague?

Friends, you can believe that those volunteer committee members understood enough about the bond plan to recommend its review by independent counsel.

You can also believe that the pros and cons of this huge debt plan will be laid out for the taxpayers and citizens of Marietta to actually see for themselves.

That gets to the crux of the situation. It's about transparency in government - the people's right to know what is going on.

Councilwoman Holly Walquist got it right when she said it's "being transparent to the citizens." She also said she wished the citizens committee report had been available at the start of the refinancing process.

But "the-people-aren't-smart-enough-to-understand" syndrome has become epidemic. It spreads from the imperial U.S. Senate - where Democrats in charge refuse to post their health care bill on the Internet because it's "too complicated" for people like you and me to understand - to Marietta City Hall.

Councilman Van Pearlberg understands what this is all about. He said, "The citizens want to be able to digest this." It's about "letting the citizens see what is being done."

It's a long overdue step toward the transparency that should be the rule at City Hall.

dmckee9613@aol.com