It's a confusing day in Minnesota's capital city after what was an amazing display of emotion at the City Council last night.

SPicy is not surprised that Dave Thune would subjugate himself to the wishes of the Summit Hill Association.  The SHA has has a blind but fearless warrior in Dave. He has an amazing history of unswerving leadership on key issues like this.  One only needs to go back and look at the City Council's conflict-of-interest rules to better understand the path Dave has blazed through the city's political history.

No, what is really causing SPicy indigestion is Pat Harris' vote to support a decision he knows will not stand on appeal. The Attorney for Edina Properties, Inc. laid out his argument so clear an average City Council Intern could see that the proposal was consistent to allow the restaurant to locate on Grand Avenue.  The City's Attorney even said that the Council should ignore other Noodles & Co. locations and judge this plan.

Maybe Pat likes the Noodles in his neighborhood so much he did not want Grand Ave to have its own?  Why else would a person who had a past reputation of being been a fiscal watchdog for taxpayers, foolishly vote to expose an already cushionless city budget to what could be an expensive lawsuit?  Mr. Harris ought to be more careful, his voters have historically been more fickle than Mr. Thune's.

Why would the person who represents the ward containing the largest economic redevelopment project in the City's history (the Ford Plant site) vote to ignore city code and rules that he wants other businesses to follow?  It's something SPicy will consider over a meal of Bangkok Curry TRIO.

SPicy is not here to defend restaurants, bars or whatever, just to advocate for good public policy.  If Noodles & Co. is reluctant to pursue this because they think they're not wanted here, they could not be more wrong. Saint Paulites are much more pragmatic than this Council would lead you to believe.

If you build it, people will be happy to see you, happier than seeing their Council Member.  Thankfully most residents don't even know their names. Their kids love your Macaroni and Cheese though.

SPicy's prediction was wrong, however SPicy feels pretty comfortable that if Noodles or Lund's does decide to sue, they will in all likelihood win, SPIcy's own counsel is quite sure of this.

Maybe Dave, Pat, Kathy, Jay and Debbie can start the paperwork now and make community donation request to Noodles & Co.  On it's website the company offers fundraising efforts through a percentage of sales and other sponsorships, maybe they would be willing to fund the $700,000 City settlement to to Clear Channel Outdoor. 

SPicy wonders how many orders of the Japanese Pan Noodles TRIO it would take to re-open rec-centers that will be closed after the lawsuit is settled? Maybe none, because in less than two minutes you'll be able to get a quickly served fire-baked goat cheese, tofu and spinach with white sauce pizza at Punch, right next door to the vacant Italian Pie Shoppe. 

A dedicated reader emailed to remind Spicy that Mr. Thune invoked the "Looks Like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck" sentiment.  He seemed a little confused when trying to say it, with about as much clarity as  George W Bush's "Fool me once" blunder.  Maybe Dave was thinking he had to insert Mallard or Wood Duck in there somewhere. 

What was abundantly clear in his statement is the SHA's ability to put words in Dave's mouth like a tasty Chicken Satay.