A 20-year old piece of bad advice has become the mantra of the current City Council, as well as the rationale for the apparently endless nattering of Council members.
A while ago, in the face of a rising tide of impatience at the excessive length of Council meetings, Council member Ken Genser cited the advice a School Board member gave him when he won his first term 20 years ago. She said that he should always remember that the meetings were for Council members, not for the public.
Council member Pam O’Connor repeated the piquant notion the other night, as if to
justify the extended monologues she and her more loquacious colleagues regularly deliver.
Time and time again, even if they have nothing to say, they say it at great length.
Council members also seem to enjoy bringing the meetings to a full stop to grill staff
members, which could be done as easily and more efficiently in advance of the meetings.
But this semi-weekly talkathon is only part of a larger problem. As the vile warden said to Cool Hand Luke, “What we have here is failure to communicate.”