A Budget Day In The Life Of

It's a definite risk. 
If I talk too much,there's a possibility I  will have no audience.
And yet.      And yet..... And yet.
I've tried different tactics. Not speaking first.  Waiting for someone else to raise the questions.. 
It's not really an option. .
Only two members of Council  are not neophytes..Slim chance the answers I need will be sought.. . 
Yet there's no guarantee I will be heard.. I am not in command.
I must be persistent, I must be patient. I must be civil.
Logic dictates  the political and the administrative work towards a common end.
Tension  is natural and desirable.
The dance, in all its intricacy, must proceed.
Saturday, from nine to four was spent at the town hall.
Agenda included  presentations, from  department heads on the program for 2013.
Budget details were not up for discussion. A broad overview was the purpose. 
Quietly receptive with hands folded pontifically would probably be the perfect demeanour. 
Await like a fallow field .
First the fertiliser is spread , furrows plowed and  seed sown. The  elements combine, green shoots appear and ultimately grain  and whatever else was in the fertisliser  is  ready to be harvested.
Yes,  I know. . 
It's an unfortunate analogy.
When one is captured  in a day long situation of  listening,  waiting   to speak,,,,,,,,all kinds of mischievous thoughts  race and chase one another through one's  mind. 
Actually, I can only speak for my mind.. 
One cannot enter  the mind of another...however hard one might try.
A rote has been established as a result of  adoption of the twenty-year strategic plan. It means all parties must  function like robots.
George Orwell's 1984. thirty years on. 
Every recommendation starts  with  a statement of  aims of the Strategic Plan. 
The municipality will "provide an exceptional quality of life"  . 
Well y'know, it's likely a generational thing. Every time I read  that phrase,"exceptional quality of life"  in the context of a municipal bureaucracy, I think:
WTF!   WTF!  .....WW!!TTT!!!FFFF !!!! It's like banging my head against the wall.
Who do we think we are?
What powers do we imagine we  possess?
How do we expect to know what represents an "exceptional quality of life" common to a population  of fifty- five thousand people of all ages,genders, creeds, cultural backgrounds, financial ability, tastes  interests and pecadilloes
How  remotely achievable is that aim?
How does any intelligent person stand  in a public meeting with a straight face and  espouse the  principle. if only Council   imposes ythis level of  taxation, a  bureaucratic administration of a municipal corporation can   deliver  "an exceptional quality of life for all".
A consultant study at a cost of $80,000  was authorised  in the last budget to produce the magic formula. 
The study was completed  with  community participation claimed. 
The final product  procleimed "exceptional quality of life" as the objective. 
.The  Shang-ri-La  concept was adopted  and this year's budget is formulated  to fulfill the objective.
 Council is now faced with the consequences of what has been wrought.
I didn't vote to spend $80,000 on a  consultant study to formulate a twenty year strategic plan. 
I didn't vote to approve a plan with such lofty aspirations.
I did not echo the CAO's  satisfaction that Council had bestowed on the administration ,responsibility for implementing the plan. 
I was the grinch that stole.   
I shall throughout the budget process attempt to  throw light on
 items which  do not justify themselves  in the cold clear  light of practicality. and attempt to influence the vote. . 
I will likely talkalot. 
Will anyone listen?
Does that  mean I should  not speak ? 
Should the public be encouraged to believe all is well despite  an ever growing , crushing burden of taxation  with little to show, at the level of government whereat there is  the greatest opportunity for  control ?
Does the word "Gravy train" come to mind?
Quiet contemplation in the face of adversity  is not  a familiar inclination.                
.