Silly Season Has Begun

As you may have gathered... assuming anyone is reading this... we have a few City elections coming up and thus silly season has begun.

Silly season typically starts a month or two out from the election. It is safe to say we are there. We have mayoral candidates and their trusty sidekicks disrupting council meetings with schoolyard taunts regarding various aspects of male genitalia towards those who disagree with them. Followed a day or so later by a threat to file a complaint/lawsuit claiming other council members were in violation of open meetings laws when having a brief conversation prior to the official start of the meeting. So how does this person who feels so violated know what these other two were talking about? Unless he was standing right there. And by standing right there and not calling fellow council-folk to task on the spot (or at least reminding them with a gentle 'hey guys, not a good idea') does this not make him culpable? If not standing right there, eavesdropping or even participating how could he know what was said... heck they could have been talking about baseball.

Of course the conversation participants have gone on the record now stating that yes they had a conversation one asked the other if he'd seen such and such information. And yes this was regarding a vote to be taken later. From the context given in the paper it doesn't sound like any such violation to me although I am not a lawyer. Funny thing, the charging party says he can't file the complaint for about two to three weeks because his lawyer won't be available until then. I don't think you need an attorney to file a complaint such as this; lawsuit maybe but complaint probably not. To file a complaint (as I understand it) one would simply contact the State Attorney General's office and make said complaint. That's all we need one council member suing another over how council works (or doesn't).

The kicker? The charging party has decided to drop out of the council race in his ward and will thus not be around this time next year. Methinks a touch of lame duck I-can-do-or-say-whatever-I-want-itis has settled in. Oh wait, this guy has pretty much behaved that way from day one, never mind.

Various candidate forums will commence next month which will no doubt elevate the silly factor around here. We will not only have forums/debates for the mayoral candidates but apparently also one for the various council candidates. In one ward the incumbent has declined to participate. Personally I don't think that's a good idea for someone from a troubled ward. But hey, just an observation.

Oh and did you know that a candidate for office who attends a public meeting, casts various aspersions of a political and personal nature is not actually speaking as a candidate (or being political according to the gentleman) unless they are wearing their campaign button?

When you run for office folks you are a candidate 24/7 you don't get to step back for five minutes and not be one. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in the voting booth. This is a person who should know that having served as an elected official previously.

Ah yes, let the silliness begin