Other Business

I never truly know what to make of some comments during the Other Business portion of our Wednesday night or General Council meetings. Having only really been a regular attendee for the last eight years, I can't speak to how these meetings might have gone before. Some meeting veterans have informed me the sessions were much more heated, in fact at one point it appears a fistfight nearly broke out. While we haven't had a meeting that bad, though there have been some bad ones, I still find myself on edge somewhat before each meeting. I scan the crowd for certain faces, because sadly there are some individuals whose presence usually means trouble, accusations, rants, or just plain meanness. There have been times when I knew exactly what somebody was going to say. Were it legal to start a betting pool on who would speak, what they would say, or who would be attacked, I think more than a few people would ante up.
Several years ago, the then Vice-Chair made her own effort to try and bring a sense of relevance and efficiency to what is almost always a question mark going into each and every meeting. Her efforts did not go smoothly, though sitting right beside her I knew exactly what was trying to be accomplished. But it just wasn't, and still isn't meant to be. I am not trying to gripe with this post, but I recently had what in hindsight has been a very enlightening discussion with several staff members about this very topic, ones with whom I've not spoken about on this subject.
Staff see right through a lot of the theatrics. They see the disingenuousness of some of the odd questions being asked, questions not-so-coincidentally pertaining to a sensitive issue that only a Council member would know about. They see the allies of Council members leading attacks or defending their favorites, and they also see the adversaries doing the exact same thing. It should be interesting to see how our streamed meetings will be taken by the general membership. Will they feel as if they've just started watching a soap opera or drama midway through some Tolstoy-like plotline? Or will they care?
Following the elections of the ABC/PPP, Council meetings took on a whole new dimension. They became theatrical, even more scripted than before. Enemies and allies alike gave me heads up on what would be brought up during the next Council meeting. For what seemed like forever, we were lucky to finish in less than 90 minutes. There was always something, and rarely was it not ugly, not scripted. And rarely could I not assume that the invisible hands of my peers were not in some way at work.
The meetings have mellowed out somewhat, in subject if not in length. It has been over a year since somebody went after me personally. There was a cast of characters who, during the supposed "reign" of the ABC/PPP group, rarely missed a meeting, and always had something negative to say, some "gotcha!" comment or question to spring upon us. Now that only a handful of us remain, and we no longer reign, they disappeared, faded back to where they came. Once in a while they'll come back, and as always, when I see them walking in, what they have to say is hardly a surprise.
I am not sure if or when we'll see the same cast brought back. But what I do know is, like the seasons, staff are preparing for seasonal two-hour meetings. The season: election.