Imagine a nervous, awkward, pimply-faced young chap dating his girlfriend for two years, and then the big night comes on Monday.
He asks her to marry him. Quicker than you can say London is in Ontario, she says yes.
Tuesday night, he decides to propose to her. She agrees to marry him.
By Wednesday, they no longer need a script. Will she wed him? Of course.
Thursday night, he still is not convinced. He asks and, exasperatedly, she gives in again.
By Friday night, he finally has changed clothes. He wants to be certain, though, she has not undergone a mind change. In all of the wide world, he asks, would she agree to live with him the rest of their lives? If this was going to be their routine, she was having doubts, but she replied affirmatively, in case he turned out to be congenial.
What’s the Difference?
Now you know what the repetitious scene will be like on Monday evening at 7 at Lin Howe School, next door to the School District offices on Irving Place, when the City Council convenes the fourth of its five scheduled community meetings, seeking popular approval for a proposed half-cent sales tax increase.
After the first three meetings, the City Council is undefeated.
Every resident who has spoken has supported placing the proposed increase on the November ballot, most with an enthusiastic endorsement.
Unlike the wobbly young man above, isn’t City Hall convinced that it has something that feels like a mandate to proceed?
It’s about commitment, said Mayor Andy Weissman.
“We advertised at the initiation of the process last month that we were going to have five community meetings around the city so everyone would have an opportunity to comment,” he said.
Where Are They?
But for all of the frown-faced thunder that habitually is stoked by community progressives – about supposedly vitally interested residents hungering to cerebrally contribute if only City Hall would accommodate them – this latest grand experiment has fluttered to the ground like a used Jaguar bought on sale at the 99-Cent Store.
Those vitally interested residents hungering to contribute must have gone on a group discount vacation to Mars.
Consider:
• At the first special meeting in this vaunted series, fewer than 10 persons spoke.
• At the second meeting, a Saturday,15 appeared, but some were repeaters from the first meeting.
• At the third meeting, a lonely five piped up.
This does not bode pregnantly for Monday evening at Lin Howe.
The mighty special series could have been convened after hours in the back row of Council Chambers.
“It may well be,” said Mr. Weissman, “that the survey we did in May that led into this series is accurate in its finding that the community seems to be satisfied with the direction in which the city is being governed. Representative government is what we have and what they believe in. They have elected the City Council to provide policy direction and guidance to the city. They are okay. When they are not okay, you hear from them.
“There was a real purpose to this dialogue series,” Mr. Weissman said. “This is such a significant issue for the community, being the need for additional revenue and the importance of the local sales tax, that we wanted to give everybody interested, the opportunity to hear and to speak, without regard for how few may show up.
“If there had been real resistance, we would have heard it from one person. But we have yet to hear from anyone who objects.”
