Who was the mayor talking about?

I found the mayor’s recent guest column in the Journal Star to be more intriguing than enlightening. Mayor Chris Beutler wrote about how he is resisting pressure to put representatives of certain “constituent groups” and “citizens without expertise” on the selection committee that will help select the arena construction manager. He basically wrote that he won’t do it. But the column raises more questions than answers: Who are these groups and citizens? (Although I’d wager we could all figure it out.) The selection committee was named a long time ago, so how could they presume to have the power to be added now? Although I question the “expertise” of some of the people on the committee (a mayoral aide? a City Council member? Really?). And what the mayor didn’t mention is that he has the ultimate say in which company wins the bid to build the $168 million arena. And how much expertise does he have in such matters? Just sayin.