As some of you may know, I hooked up with a group known as the Concord Chicken Club on Facebook. This group has applied to the City of Concord to change existing ordinances to allow chickens inside the city limits. First, they had to come up with $400 for the fee to "apply for an ordinance change". Then they had to convince the Concord Planning & Zoning Board to agree to changing the zoning ordinances to allow chickens. Then the board would vote to either pass them on to the City Council or to turn them down. If they passed them on to the council, they could send their approval, send their disapproval, or just simply pass them. Well, since their vote was 2 for and 2 against, they were forced to simply pass them on to the council. In preparation for the council holding a public hearing, I decided to attend a City Council meeting to see what it would be like. Well, did I pick a winner!
Rocky and I arrived promptly at 5:45pm so we could make sure to get a seat, hopefully near the back. When we walked in, the room was pretty full but luckily, there were 2 seats in the very back. We quickly took them. Of course, I had my emergency MS kit complete with gingersnaps, crackers and juice. Since my stomach was already a little queasy, I ate 2 crackers and took a quick swig of juice. Then we sat and observed. I saw the Mayor, the City Manager, and several familiar faces which I assumed were council members. Then I spotted a gentleman dressed in a very old looking t'shirt and a yellow fishing hat. You know, the kind like Gilligan wore (which is why I nicknamed him Gorton). He was holding a professionally printed sign that read "blah blah, City Policeman, is a liar", or something to that affect. I knew we were in for some excitement.
Well, the meeting started promptly at 6pm with the Pledge of Allegiance and a Moment of Silence. Then a former winning football coach got up and smooched the council's back end...er...thanked the council for giving him a key to the city. They the council got down to the business of approving or rejecting proposals that has been presented to them in previous meetings. Finally, it came time open the floor to the public. That's when Gorton got up and preceded to tell the board he wanted a certain city policeman investigated by anyone, including the SBI, Senate, and even President Obama, because he lied in court by saying he (Gorton) harasses him family in area restaurants (that's plural, he pointed out). He stated that his record could be checked to verify he has NEVER been accused of harassment, although he's been arrested at least 15 times. WOW! He spoke until his time was up and as he walked away, someone made a comment about "the dog stuck under his house". Then he walked back to the podium and was allotted 1 more minute to speak to that. He thanked everyone involved for waiting from 2am (when he called the Police) until 11am (when a city employee finally arrived) to rescue the dog that he had to listen to the whines of all night long. Then, he walked away, grabbed his sign, and he was gone.
The rest of the meeting went as planned, although we left a few minutes early. So, there you have my first experience at a City Council meeting. How about that...
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