By Their Deeds, Ye Shall Know Them

I did not attend Council on Tuesday. I watched on television.
Oh my! 
Oh My!
It was a short agenda.
Nothing much to be made of it
Much was made of it. 
It occurred to me, if I were a competent teacher of civics, the meeting could be used  as a classic example of how formal, decision-making can   be effectively screwed up.
Staff have been directed, despite solid  reasons why it shouldn't, to schlepp Council, staff, agendas  and all accoutrements to two high schools, to  encourage  student  interest in government.
The purpose  is to combat citizen apathy.  
Councillor Pirri brought  the notion back from a conference.
The Mayor  supports  it as an example of innovative thinking.
He  discussed it with  an educational official  who also believes it's a wonderful concept.
The majority of Council agree
Which leaves me to disagree. 
I am  left to wonder if they have ever watched  themselves on television.
Or...here's a thought...   being seen and heard on television  is so mind-boggling, it  has literally boggled  minds.
Or.. another ... Collective  understanding of how a meeting should be conducted is so skewed, confidence abounds.
Or...
Ah well, what's the point.
It has been decided.
But then sometimes  when Council  approves a motion , months go by and nothing comes of it. 
Nothing  indicates why some directions are promptly implemented,  some disappear and others  re-appear in a different format.Like an initiative of the Mayor and CAO. 
I am completing twenty-five years of  service as a Councillor and that many again as an observer.
I've served on a variety of Boards; Police,  Public Health, Hospital, Children's Aid Society, Library,  Recreation Commission, Conservation Authority,Children's Aid Society, a quasi-judicial review board, and dozens more committees.  
In the last Council, I saw rules of order regularly twisted to 
suit  exigencies. I saw provincial regulations ignored if they got in the way.I saw staff mercilessly abused in public.
But I have never seen  the disarray and confusion so consistently demonstrated as in  this Council.
It has been two years. Things have not improved.  
With the best will in the world, a  learning instrument for modern  high school students, this Council is  not.