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Health & Fitness

Blog: Levelheadedness Over Wrongheadedness

Blogger David Grand shares his experience at a recent meeting of the county commissioners.

Now, I have always been selective in the public meetings I’ve I gone to over the last 20 years, with my criteria for attending them being that the topic must hold the promise of drawing a large turnout, along with having the potential for raucous behavior to make it worthwhile for me to miss a meal or a favorite TV show to write about.

And, when entering a meeting, I try to be as unobtrusive as possible and rush to find a seat in the back, so as to avoid any evil stairs or verbal missiles aimed at me. 

But none of those precautions were necessary when I entered the commissioners’ meeting room the other day. For as I quickly observed, there were only three other people there besides the board members. 

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So, throwing caution to the wind and with shoulders squared, I took a seat in the front row, which had me almost eyeball to eyeball with the board members, who, understandably so, weren’t about to greet me with a smile or wave of the hand.

The discussion opened on a cordial note, with all members in agreement of the necessity for having a person(s) to assume the role of a media consultant, acting as the conduit between them and media outlets. And, in turn, for keeping their constituents abreast of the latest goings-on.

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But that collegial spirit of cooperation was short-lived, when Commissioner Shoemaker-who as of late has become the voice of reason on the board and the arch pennypincher-made a motion right off the bat to have someone from within the ranks to perform that vital function, as opposed to contracting it out.

That set the stage for what was to be the ongoing mano o mano between him and Rothschild, with Frazier at his beck and call to support his every argument, even with his non sequiters and contridictory statements.

And sitting as Rothschild and Shoemaker were, only an arm’s length apart, one could tell by their body language the low regard they had for one another-personally as well as professionally-and how that surely contributed to and stiffened their resolve to come out on top in the no-holds-barred Donnybrook they were engaged in. 

As I watched ‘em fighting like kids in a sandbox, rather than maintaining the decorum expected of a deliberative body of public officials, I knew my coming there would be handsomely rewarded by providing me with ample fodder for writing a more insightful blog, focused on revealing the interacton that goes on among the board’s members, sans having to rely on my usual, jaded sense of humor to capture the reader’s interest

Now, what with both Rothschild and Frazier having already tipped their hand as to their preference for awarding a service contract to Jim Simpson, making it a foregone conclusion that Shoemaker’s original motion would receive two ayes and two neys when voted on, thereby leaving it up to Roush to break the tie. 

And given that he tends to be as indecisive in making up his mind as a Scotchman standing in front of a pay toilet, and who seems to enjoy playing the role of the Devil’s advocate, there was no way to predict which of the sides he’d align himself with.  

Ultimately, however, when the last-minute point-counterpoint exchanges finally ground to a merciful end, he signed on with the Howard/Shoemaker team. Much, I would add, to the consternation of those on the losing team, with Frazier looking at him with eyes as hard as buttons, and Rothschild as crestfallen as a dog who’d lost a bone.

Then, with a sigh of relief, I hurried to the nearest fast-food restaurant to quiet my growling stomach, before returning home for a long overdue nap, to hopefuly flush out of my mind what I’d witnessed of the best and worst traits of our county’s leadership.  

But apparently that nap didn’t have the recuperative effects that I thought it would. For it remained clogged up, after I read in the paper a few days later that the board, in playing its version of musical chairs, had voted by secret ballot to give Rothschild the honorific title of vice-president, rather than allowing Shoemaker to retain it  

You can bet he ordered a new nameplate with that revised title right after his anointment, that leaves him with only one higher rung on the ladder to climb on the board, in furtherence of his ambitions to seek a position at the state or national level.

Remember, you heard it here first.

Quote of the week: “There are two sides to every question-my side and the wrong side.”  Mark Twain

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