This one nearly got by me because it’s virtually impossible to make it through one of Courier News reporter Mike Danahey’s longer pieces without immediately slipping into a deep coma. Thankfully, a friend noticed Elgin Councilman Terry Gavin’s final quote and alerted me to the delicious irony involved.
To set the stage, as we speak, due to nine separate presentations, Senior Gavin and his council compatriots are embarking upon a special eight-hour city council meeting. The Mayor tried to move it to a Saturday, but some aldermen balked so they’re all taking a Wednesday afternoon off work.
This is one of the many reasons that alderman don’t get paid nearly as much as they should.
But back to the issue at hand! When faced with this marathon legislative session, Councilman Gavin actually had the nerve to say:
“There’s a consumption of time without having specifics to address. With council business to get to and vote on these presentations can drag on meetings. They need to be shortened. It’s a lot of talk with no action, and it wears you down.”
Before we continue, I’m gonna let you take that statement in for a minute because it really is one for the ages…….
Now that you’ve recovered, I’m going point out that I’m doing my damndest to let the outspoken councilman’s peccadilloes go because, a. It’s too easy to have fun with him; and, b. I do believe he harbors some good intentions.
It’s just that any potential altruistic tendencies are clouded by the fact that Brother Gavin always thinks he’s the most important person in the room when every knows it’s really me.
Not only that, but long city council meetings are by no means unique to The City in the Suburbs. If you really want to watch a waste of time, avail yourself of any Geneva City Council meeting video. Mayor Kevin “Shecky” Burns’ weekly “comedy” routines frequently make those get togethers go three times longer than necessary.
But what’s particularly fascinating about Gavin’s declaration is that he clearly lacks the slightest capacity to realize the reason so many Elgin meetings drag on ad nauseam is staring straight at him in the mirror! I may be in love with my own voice, but you can always change the station or advance the Internet page. Give Gavin a captive audience and he’s off to the races.
If it isn’t turning a simple $15,000 expenditure into a 20 minute “give me liberty or give me death” oratory, it’s starting an argument with the “liberal” council faction in an effort to delay a vote that’s a foregone conclusion. And once he gets going, the rest of the council naturally feels the need to respond which sets up a semi-circular dynamic.
Meanwhile, multi-million dollar expenditures get past him without so much as a cough.
It’s gotten to the point where Gavin will even go after the gallery if he feels the slightest bit slighted which is about an every 30 second occurrence.
The appointment of Rosamaria Martinez literally took ten times longer than necessary because Gavin (with a little help from John Prigge), felt the need to make every other councilman’s life abjectly miserable. Then he has the nerve to complain about overly long meetings? That’s just like John McCain castigating the President for being “wrong” about Iraq. Oh wait! He actually did that!
What makes it so much worse is, Gavin is essentially accusing the very people who put him in office of wasting his time. God forbid anyone should address his highness directly through the process intended to do just that.
All that said, and truth be told, if there was an expert on the prospect of offering “a lot of talk with no action, that wears you down,” we all know exactly who that would be!
