On Another Topic

I know no obligation to keep outrageous behaviour confidential.

Councillor Wilson on the other hand, apparently feels a room with closed doors is an opportunity not to be missed.

On Tuesday, during the in- camera meeting, he repeated a performance similar to one hurled at former Councillor Grace Marsh before she resigned.

On his feet, shouting, flailing his arms, he declared my "hatred" of the Mayor has destroyed everything this Council has tried to do throughout the term.

He bitterly excoriated things said about him in this blog.

There was a presiding member. The attack was permitted . There was an audience of staff. an external solicitor and the rest of Council.

It takes a better man than I am, not to respond to such an attack. And I did. Though not to my satisfaction.

Yet how does one?

Calmly, deliberately and with dignity, I might say:

Councillor, if you were not so fond of casting allegations,
accusations, sneers and jeers, there would surely be nothing
for me to say about you.
Our association is as Members of a Council.
We are not friends. We are not enemies.
Neither love nor hate have a place between us.
Our exchange is public business.
I will not engage at your level.
It fails to conform to any rules of order familiar to me.
Nor to your adopted Code of Conduct.
But I am not without resources.
The blog gives me a tool to respond.
You do it your way.I will do it mine.
People will judge how we handle ourselves in their name
Blog is a new element in politics but it's all grist for the mill, Councillor....
Grist for the mill.
If you do not like how I portray you, the solution is yours.
Stop doing and saying that which allows me to paint the portrait.
Stop fooling yourself into believing because there are six of you and you can make rules to suit your purpose, it means you have the upper hand.
I wasn't born yesterday, Councillor.
Don't think, I didn't learn a thing or five along the way.
I didn't survive because I was afraid to risk all for the sake of doing what I
thought was right.
Or my passion for being straighforward overcomes all else, including political
expediency.
I know well enough, it's not what people expect from a politician.
And it's not always a political advantage.
But it is what they need to expect from me. Because it's what I have and will
continue to give.

Well, of course. I didn't say any of those things. The ambiance was not conducive.

Instead my claws came out and I cut him a new one. It definitely made me feel better and I'm certainly not sorry.

But it did nothing to improve an appalling situation.

I am not hopeful anything can.