Oh Me Oh My

The baleful glare and menacing smile are much in evidence these days as the Mayor twists and turns in the wind of difficulties of her own making.

Thirty- six months into the term of office, councillors are now being advised of individual Rules of Order, the Mayor is planning to enforce in the future.

The rule requiring council approval to withdraw a motion from the table after extensive debate has been discovered. It has always been there. But never before noticed I guess.

Recently an e-mail was circulated by the Mayor citing specific wording of the clause governing mayhem. The closest we come to that is when the Mayor loses it , shouts people down and or bangs the table.rat-a-tat-tat for several minutes as if it was the head of the person challenging her style of maintaining order.

Last night prior to going into camera to deal with three innocuous matters, a lecture was presented about declaring publicly if a councillor was not prepared to accept that a particular item on the agenda should be dealt with behind closed doors.The Mayor's meaningful gaze focused throughout her comments upon myself.

It's never exactly clear what's expected when the presiding member engages in this bizarre behaviour.

Am I supposed to crumple, weeping and begging forgiveness? Or vanish like the Wicked Witch of the West into a fizzle and a puddle on the floor?

The inclination is to place both thumbs on the side of my head and wag my fingers in her direction but of course that would be decidedly lacking in decorum

The lecture about objecting to confidentiality prior to attending an in-camera meeting was not unlike a child care worker admonishing her charges to go to the bathroom before leaving for an expedition. .

Monday night's special committee meeting was electric. It was held to provide responses to councillors' queries raised at a previous all day Saturday budget meeting.

At the hour of adjournment, half the agenda still remained. I hear some people did not leave the Town Hall until 12.30 a.m.

No matter the nature of comments, the presiding member is compelled to deliver a dissertation on the merits or lack thereof of each and every one.

Silent pauses hung in the air as if an explosion was anticipated.

Frequent gushing bouts of self praise and plaudits are spread generously among the Mayor's inner circle and of course directed to new staff who have replaced all the "ne'er-do-wells" long vanished from the scene.

There comes a time, when endless nittering, nattering and self-aggrandizement can no longer be endured.

At ten-thirty, the hour of adjournment, the small body of work only half-completed. I arose from my seat, donned my raiment and left that place.

David Letterman's Late Night Show is currently featuring a list of ten things more painful than reading Sarah Palin's Memoirs.