As Henry Kissinger said when he was a professor at Harvard, the
politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small.
I have covered quite a few different city council meetings and I
can tell you Dr. Kissinger didn’t go far enough. He never attended
a San Juan Bautista Council meeting.
As Henry Kissinger said when he was a professor at Harvard, the politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small.
I have covered quite a few different city council meetings and I can tell you Dr. Kissinger didn’t go far enough. He never attended a San Juan Bautista Council meeting.
What Kissinger didn’t say was that the reason a lot of small-town city councilpersons focus on the small issues is because they get elected woefully unprepared to handle the real needs of even the smallest town. So, they latch onto issues they can really sink their teeth into.
For example, San Juan Bautista has some very real long-term problems: It is a fact if the city loses one well they would suffer a water shortage, and on top of that officials say there isn’t enough water pressure to put out a modest fire in the downtown area; the sewer system is as antiquated as the rest of the town and probably qualifies for an historical marker; the streets are some of the safest in America because any speed more than 20 mph can literally knock the wheels off your car.
Yet, the city council has spent many meetings and God knows how many hours discussing what to do about chickens running loose in the streets.
The fact that tourism is one of the major sources of income to the city, and that people drive from great distances to see chickens in the street (and in spite of the dilapidated city infrastructure), this doesn’t seem to register with many of these council people.
However, there are members on council who have the patience, and my heart goes out to them because it must be like babysitting.
It is obvious in the council packets that some members didn’t do their homework, meaning they didn’t read their packets, and therefore they waste valuable time.
One of my great disappointments is that while I write a personal column, I still have to be a reporter.
At this week’s council meeting, one of my friends who has probably attended more governmental meetings than a roomful of councilpersons, exercised her constitutional right to play as big a fool as an elected official.
With her tongue planted firmly in her cheek, she took the podium and satirized the council’s absurd debate over chickens in the street, demonstrating to one and all that she could out fiddle the council’s “Nero” as chickens were barbecued by San Juan’s own burning buildings.
“The robins and blue jays have taken over. It’s not safe to park your car on the street without being attacked by bird excrement,” she said. “Clearly something must be done.”
Her parody continued, pushing for a committee to be formed to get rid of the songbirds, stating their warbling wakes her up in the middle of the night and soon they will chase the tourists away.
“Birds of feather flock together and we are being besieged,” she cried.
If not for the hat on her head, a big splat would fall.
It was hard to tell who was laughing harder, the reporters, the audience, and yes, even the council.
We sat outside wondering what could possibly take three hours to discuss in closed session. We dare to imagine what it would be like to be a fly on the wall, planning a covert operation to debunk the folly, only to shrug at the reality of listening to their debates.
But then, as my wise friend said, when you heard one song bird, you heard them all.
Linda Lee King is a Free Lance staff writer. Her column appears each week.
