My first thought was "Why Attend the Meeting When You Can Have the Stipend for Free?" I thought of that title, because Will Tudor, once again, didn't attend the meeting. Will's term is (mercifully) over, and he is more obvious than ever about not caring about the Village and the issues that affect it.
But that title is really just a punchline, and to use it doesn't require me to talk about any of the things that happened during these two Commission meetings. (The first meeting was to talk briefly about the contract we want to offer to Mario Diaz to be our new manager, and the second meeting was about a variance.)
My second thought for a title was "The Queen is Retired: Long Serve the...King." There has never been, and there will never be, an elected official like Roxy Ross. Tonight was her last business meeting. She has given the Village all she has to give. She has been intelligent beyond expectation -- seemingly beyond anyone's capacity -- she has been orderly, she has provided an unbelievable depth of perspective about any matter, she has been gentle, she has been compelling, she has been respectful when others were not respectful to her, and she has been relentless in advocating for the Village to be "A Better Place to Be." (That's her slogan.) She has raised the level of discourse, when others had the sense to follow her lead. She's pure class. And now, she's leaving the Commission. She has made clear she's not coming back as a Commissioner.
But Mac Kennedy is here. Boy, is he here. He fills many parts of the gaping space left by Roxy's departure. His breadth of consideration, and his incisive perspicacity, are more than impressive. He's not subtle, and he'll fill a room. But the quality of his contributions is overwhelming. He nails every issue in a way that is reminiscent of Roxy Ross. Like Roxy, there's nothing Mac hasn't thought of. And also like Roxy, he's a deal-maker. The variance request wasn't workable, but he encouraged the various parties, including the Village's P&Z board, to go back to various corners of the drawing board, and make some adjustments that could convert this unworkable offering to one that could fit nicely. He made a couple of specific suggestions for how to fit the square peg into the round hole. It's not his job to solve everyone's problems. But he likes to do that. Mac thinks big. And he thinks of everything.
Last week we sent Mac a message. We gave him many more votes than we ever before gave any Commission candidate. We thanked him for the several months he was on the Commission already, and we gave him the most extensive invitation we could to stay as long as he likes. If we're smart, we'll keep doing that for Mac. And for ourselves.
Did this meeting last too long? Of course it did. But it was a master class, and I'm glad I watched it.
Goodbye, Rox. And thank you. And thanks, Mac, and welcome. I assume Art Gonzalez was watching closely. He was Zoomed in. I hope he was taking notes. I didn't see Judi Hamelburg in the audience tonight.
Who you kidding, Fred? In that ellipsis I heard you want to coronate me as the next queen. I’ve been called worse!
ReplyDeleteThat's what ellipses are for, my dear.
DeleteAnd you're right. You did a magnificent job. We're very smart/lucky to have you.
By the way, Mac, did you know...?
DeleteIn the past couple of months, I happened to be discussing the ellipsis with one of my friends who is a professional writer. I use the ellipsis a lot, and I discovered that I misunderstood it. I thought it had two uses. One was to create a pause, for effect (as I used it in the second title I considered, and in the first line of this comment), and the other was to replace words not quoted from somewhere else. In fact, the ellipsis is much closer to the latter than it is to the former. It is to note or replace words left out. Apparently, I totally invented the idea of the other usage (or I thought I interpreted others as using it that way), which is the one I employ most often. So I've been wrong all this time. But no one has ever corrected me, or criticized me for it, and since it's a really nice and fun way to create rhythm, pacing, and drama or humor, I've decided to continue to take the liberty of using it that way.
Also, Mac, I had a little dilemma. The common chant is "The King is Dead; Long Live the King." But in our case, the person who left isn't a king. So clearly, I had to change that to queen. But the person replacing her, in a sense, isn't a queen (in the genetic sense), so I would normally have wanted to switch to king. But for the reason to which you refer, and for humorous effect, I thought this would be a great place for an ellipsis, to create exactly the ambiguity you meant. And it's pretty common terminology for gay men anyway, even though it's not your style (not that you ever miss an opportunity to make reference to it), so I thought it would be a fun way to play with a title. But if you're offended, which I very much doubt you are, I take it back.
DeleteI'd rather no coronation. This may sound political or Pollyanna-like, but I'm really hoping the new Fab Five all rise equally to the occasion. (I saw that eye roll all the way over here on 11 Place!) The village elected and deserves five fully engaged commissioners, all who arrive prepared and who bring fresh ideas and maneuver through opportunities and challenges. There should be no royals ... but there should be a mayor who runs meetings well, gets the best from all the commissioners, and who engages as fully as the others. They mayor doesn't stop being a commissioner just because s/he takes on the additional responsibilities of running the meetings.
ReplyDelete