Raleigh City Council member Rodger Koopman attended Tuesday's council meeting by calling in from his cell phone and being placed on a speaker phone. Koopman is thought to be just the third Raleigh council member to attend a meeting by phone -- and he will likely be the last.

While Koopman stayed on the line long enough to vote to raise the city's impact fees, the rest of the council seemed to have a hard time remembering he was technically in attendance. Koopman didn't vote on a Planning Commission case because either he couldn't hear what was going on or his line had gone dead.

Koopman exited the meeting shortly after "requesting permission to disconnect" from Mayor Charles Meeker. After Koopman disconnected, council member Philip Isley immediately suggested that City Attorney Thomas McCormick draw up a motion that would prevent council members from attending meetings via conference calls. (Isley prefaced his request by admitting that he had requested a similar accommodation several years ago.)

"Cell phone conference calls for City Council meetings are ridiculous," Isley said.

COMPETING SYMBOLISM: What do council member Thomas Crowder and Nelson Mandela have in common? This week a local political Web site, www.belowthebeltline.org, posted a collage of photos -- including a picture of Mandela and several photos of Crowder standing with African-Americans -- under the headline "SOMETIMES A CIGAR IS JUST A CIGAR."

The post is, presumably, a response to comments made this week by Boylan Avenue resident R.J. Royster and J. Ronald White, president of the South Central Wake County Branch of the NAACP. Both men say Royster is being targeted for eviction from his home because he is black, and White claims Crowder is helping in the effort.

The men also claim that a spray-painted image that has appeared on two street signs outside Royster's house is a hate sign. (The image was created by Raleigh artist Matthew Curran, who says it is a photo of his little brother. Whoops.)

Belowthebeltline.org, which says it blogs for a progressive Raleigh, has never been shy about trumpeting the views of Crowder and council member Russ Stephenson (and blasting officials it finds fault with). But this is one of the few times the Web site has trafficked in outright hagiography of its favorites. Then again, maybe TriPol missed the joke. It wouldn't be the first time.

POLITICAL TRAIL

* REPUBLICANS: The Capital Area Republican Club will meet at Casa Carbone Restaurant, 6019 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, on Tuesday.

The social hour is at 5:30 p.m. The speaker will be state Rep. Marilyn Avila of House District 40 at 6 p.m. Dinner will follow.

For reservations, call Dot Schafer at 847-0338.

* DEMOCRATS: The Democratic Women of Wake County will meet Thursday at the N.C. State University Club, 4200 Hillsborough St., Raleigh. The buffet lunch lines open at 11:30 a.m. with the program starting at noon. The cost of the luncheon is $13.

The program will feature the Democratic candidates for Wake County General Assembly seats in the November election.

For reservations contact Nancy Looper at info@dwwc.net or Martha Farmer at 782-1272. The deadline for reservations is 10 a.m. Tuesday.

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