Have You Noticed?

For those of you who have been attending the city meetings lately, have you noticed some subtle physical changes going on?  At first it just seemed like we had to get there earlier and earlier to get a seat, assuming that there were more people attending the meetings.  Yes, there may be more people attending the meetings, but last night we noticed that an entire row of seats for the audience on the left hand side of the room have mysteriously disappeared!  There used to be 5 row, now there are only 4!  The room is already too small for the recent crowds attending the meetings causing the additional people to overflow into the hallway and now they are also removing seats?  What's up with that?

We have also noticed that since the new Interim Attorney Mr. Tom Cloud has been attending the meetings there has been a game of musical chairs going on.  Intentionally, it appears.  From the audience perspective, the previous City Attorney used to sit at the far left seat on the end, to the right of him Councilor Adorno, then Acting City Manager/Vice Mayor Block, then Mayor LaCascia, next City Clerk Patricia Jackson, next Councilor Kimsey, and to the far right Councilor Blethen.  The first night Mr. Cloud attended a city meeting he sat one seat in from the left hand side with Councilor Adorno sitting on the end and Acting City Manager/Vice Mayor Block to his other side.  The following meeting he attended, he shifted one more seat to the center, so now he is strategically positioned between Acting City Manager/Vice Mayor Block and Mayor LaCascia.  If you watch closely during the meeting the reason for the musical chairs is quite obvious. 

As most people know by now, Councilman Kimsey has been the most vocal when it comes to questioning some of the proposals brought up by Ms. Block and Mayor LaCascia.  When Mr. Kimsey has posed questions to them that it appears they might have difficulty answering, Mr. Cloud has been passing notes to Ms. Block and Mayor LaCascia to aide them in their responses.  I don't know if Mr. Kimsey is aware of this due to the curve in the desk at the front on the room that may be blocking his view at desk level.  These interactions with the Attorney are obviously intended to be very subtle or invisible to the public, since he is very careful about not even looking at the recipient when the notes are being passed.  The recipients are not quite as practiced at their poker faces.  No wonder these two are so in favor of keeping the current Interim Attorney, he makes them look smarter than they really are.  Is this fair to the other Council Members who are doing their best to get answers and clarifications so they can make decisions in the best interest of their constituents?  If they had a high dollar attorney helping them debate the issues at hand, they would probably be able to be more persuasive as well.  Don't you think?