Apropos of Previous

People are impressed that I blog. I don't know why. All I do is log in,. bring up the page and write.It doesn't seem like a big deal. I have a steady source of info and the readers come.

The more melodramatic the events, the more people read. When I throw in an explanation of how this or that works, numbers drop. I read somewhere once, gossip is an essential function of social interaction. It keeps the lid from blowing off.

The foo-fa-ra this week about Councillor Gaertner's "Question of Privilege" is an example. The Councillor was dragooned. My tendered apology was part sympathy for her predicament.

We had yet another budget meeting on Monday night. The Mayor was sending out shards of glower power all evening. But we made steady progress. We started at 7 p.m. At ten past ten, we were winding down.

A contingency of $100ks came under discussion. Councillor Wilson expressed his opposition. I contended if we didn't have contingency for unexpected expenditures, we would end up taking money from an unintended source.

"That is not straightforward" I said. "I think that is not honest budgeting."

It was the moment the Mayor had been waiting for;

"Council's integrity has been impugned " she cried out in triumph.

" That's a Question of Privilege"

It was twenty minutes before the hour of adjournment. I decided to leave.

The Mayor was still demanding a response as I climbed the stairs
.
"There will be a Question of Privilege at the start of the next meeting" she proclaimed.

The Chair is normally required to recognise a Question of Privilege.

The Mayor and Councillor MacEachern have attempted twice to expel me from the Council Chamber.

On the last occasion, a team of auditors ,at our expense, were making a presentation to Council.

Councillor Mac Eachern interjected with a question about our former Mayor monitoring telephones. I challenged the relevance to the matter at hand and all hell broke loose.

The Mayor demanded I apologise to the Councillor or leave the Council Chamber.

I answered civilly and respectfully;

"No Madame Mayor I will not apologise and I will not leave the Council Chamber."

Councillor MacEachern urged that Rick be called in. Rick is our friendly security at the reception desk when Council is in session.

Then Councillor Gaertner rose from her chair and declared she would not sit at a table where the Mayor was not respected. She left and the rest followed, the Mayor calling to Councillor Granger to come too.

The auditors still stood at the podium, books and mouths open, clearly astonished by the turn of events.

With the meeting adjourned, no further business was accomplished.

Councillor Buck's expulsion from the Chamber has been a pending item ever since.

I made plans. First I thought I would lie down on the floor and warn whoever approached that to lay a finger upon my person would bring a charge of assault.

Then I realised. I can't do that. If I got down, I wouldn't be able to get back up.

I thought about handcuffing myself to the brass rail behind me and having a cell phone to call the media for photos.

Procedure allows for the police to be called to deal with disruption and disorder in the Council Chamber.

It also allows for the Chair to leave the Chair and precipitate adjournment.

What chance these two women would opt not to have the satisfaction of having me dragged kicking and screaming from the seat to which I was elected?

On Tuesday, I contemplated the possibilities. Early in the day I learned Councillor Wilson had no intention of seeking recognition for a Question of Privilege.

The Mayor had warned it was going to happen. If the Mayor intended to do it, the chair would have to be surrendered to Councillor McRoberts; who would have the authority to recognise the question ...or not.

What other possibility ? Control of the outcome rested on the question being recognised by the Mayor.

Someone else would have to be dragooned. Now we know. Councillor Gaertner was it.

Councillor Gaertner started by declaring she was unwell and hadn't wanted to be there. There was recount of an exchange from the previous Saturday at another lengthy budget meeting.and a declaration of being offended.

Rules require a Question of Privilege to be raised instantly or before any other business at the next meeting of the Council.

The Question, therefore, was out of order.

What were the chances of that argument prevailing considering the Presiding Member's previously declared intention ?

Not much, I thought. Was this the moment for a knock 'em down and drag 'er out fight ?

I had a crazy fantasy of the Mayor and Councillor Mac Eachern jumping out of their seats to haul me out of mine and propel me from the Chamber.

At best of times, I do not regard Councillor Gaertner a worthy opponent. She has no defences. This situation was clearly not of her choosing.

If it made her feel better and foiled the Mayor's intention, allowed town business to proceed, and I hadn't brought my handcuffs, and never did acquire a cell phone to maximize the opportunity, well then, I could afford to tender an apology.

High Noon could await another time.