Mayor Mayer?

City Councilor Sally Mayer's anger at the mayor over animal services has a lot of people wondering whether the political dynamics of the council will change.

Mayer, a Republican from the Northeast Heights, and Martin Chavez, a Democrat, have been philosophical allies on the budget and some development issues.

There are two main schools of thought on this. The first is that Mayer is so angry at Chavez that he can no longer count on her vote.

That's an especially bad thing for him, given that she is one of only three councilors who seem somewhat friendly to the administration.

The second is that Mayer has never been the kind of person who votes for legislation based on whether she likes the sponsor. She's not generally seen as a "deal maker" or anything like that. She votes her conscience, so to speak.

During lunch with Mayer today — at Le Cafe Miche in her district — I got the sense that there's some truth to both schools of thought. Mayer said she supported some of the mayor's projects in the past after he made a personal pitch for her help. But it sounds like she will no longer give him the benefit of the doubt.

 On the other hand, Mayer's not going to turn into a completely different councilor. She is still the same person who argued against the Planned Growth Strategy, which she says is restrictive enough to push development to outlying communities.

"Philosophically, (the mayor and I) track on a lot of things," she said.

Don't count her out for the 2009 mayoral race either. Mayer believes public financing will draw a "herd of candidates," and she may give it a try herself. Councilors Ken Sanchez and Michael Cadigan, both Democrats from the West Side, are also mentioned frequently as possible mayoral candidates.