Party Pooper

But, in what is perhaps a sign of hope for party activists, Mincberg cooled down enough to attend a meeting with a steering committee member in an attempt to fashion some kind of peace.

Pat Strong, the committee member, says she emerged from her session with Mincberg satisfied that he would allow the executive committee meetings to consider the by-law revisions.

Mincberg says an accord was reached on two of three proposed changes; apparently, he has yet to agree to allow the removal of the word advisory from the by-law definition of the steering committee. But, even if he does grant the steering committee broader powers, no one -- least of all Mincberg himself -- expects him to change.

"Kissing somebody's butt is not my style," Mincberg says. "But I'm pretty good at organizing and I'm pretty aggressive. I'm not apologetic about that. It's allowed me to get a lot of stuff done, both personally and professionally.