Hey everyone. Remember me? I'm the new News Editor 'round these parts. You may have seen my photo yesterday. Of course you did! You never miss a post!
Anyway, so I showed up for my first Portland City Council meeting today. w00t! But here's the rub: I can't tell a soul about what was discussed. Because it's the "rules."
Tuesday's meeting was what's called an "executive session," meaning the council gets to talk freely among themselves and their aides and others about thorny issues they don't the public to know about. Not yet, at least.
- Not the Portland City Council
As expected, the whole thing's pretty relaxed. They sit around the large table in the middle of the room, surrounded by a coterie of bureaucrats while sipping from coffee cups (wait, aren't those against the rules, too?) and cracking wise.
(Looking at the empty dais behind them, I kept thinking of Showbiz Pizza, when the animatronic band would go dark between sets.)
But the subject matter is anything but frivolous. Usual topics? Think things like negotiations with public employee unions, or discussions of legal settlements. Lots of money affecting lots of people.