Saturday, November 15, 2014

Changing seasons…changing stories; shouldn’t there be protocols to deal with these things?

                        

As Brunswick adapts to a change in governance…one in which John Eldridge is, in fact, “Mr. Manager,” or as we would prefer he be called – “John,” or “Mr. Eldridge,” and Johnny Protocols soon ascends to the position of Governor of Brunswick, it seems only appropriate that a change in stories should be in the mix.

My stories run up and bite me in the leg -- I respond by writing them down -- everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off. -Ray Bradbury, science-fiction writer (b. 1920)

We can’t remember when we first came across that quote, but it explains better than we could  why we ‘do what we do.’  Here’s another one we like:

As scarce as truth is, the supply always seems to exceed the demand. Winston Churchill complained, "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."

Invited Guests Onboard the Inaugural Train

The look on Betheda Edmond’s face in the above picture reminds us that this would be a fine time for you to reread our post of a few months back:

Protocols, Backside Awards, voting, not voting, etc…

It’s a cold, cold day here in Perfect, and reminding yourself of the behavior of our betters on the town council should start a fire within your belly that takes the chill off for the rest of the day.

That post, as you know, was about the shenanigans associated with a vote to approve offering the Town Manager job to John Eldridge; how one very influential councilor had obligations elsewhere he couldn’t get out of; and how other councilors present were so flummoxed by his absence they couldn’t see straight, and voted accordingly. 

One of those councilors has since been turned out of office, we presume because the voters involved couldn’t figure out how to vote without GoJo beside them when they marked their ballots. 

You know the old saying: “live by the Protocols, die by the Protocols.”

                       

The fun part of that late September post was this:

Now as to that claim that it was too late to reschedule his commitment to work with the Maine Labor Relations Board on Monday evening in Rockland.  Lucky for you, we have reporters in the field who can look into such things.  One of them contacted the Maine Labor Relations Board office, and surprisingly, they had nothing on the three calendars they maintain for Monday night in Rockland.  Nothing for the Board itself, or the Mediation Panel, or the Board of Arbitration.

That passage refers, of course, to the explanation Johnny Protocols gave as to why he had to miss the council meeting at which the vote was taken.  We offered him an opportunity to correct the record in our little media outlet, but when no correction was submitted, we were sure it was from him.

                                        

Now comes word, via one of the other councilors with a leading role in that post, that the protagonist in this curious caper has proffered a different explanation for his unavoidable absence.  It seems he ‘had to be in court, and couldn’t get out of it.’  You know how lawyers are; they never, ever, ever ask for a postponement, or a continuance.  That would be a breach of their code of honor.

We don’t know if this was at a court in Rockland, or even if there IS a court in Rockland.  But we’ve asked our field correspondent to look into things for us.  You know how we hate having loose ends in our stories.

We just thought you ought to know about this ‘loose end’ flapping around out there in the halls of municipal governance.

We’ll close with this wondrous sentiment from one of America’s treasures:

                 

Of course, if you can barely remember which day it is, or which sock to put on first, it doesn’t matter a whole lot, does it?

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