Where's the Mayor?

I just returned from another failed city council meeting. It seems that the city is failing to establish a quorum more and more often these days. The interesting thing is that Mayor Lanman is clairvoyant and knows ahead of time who will show up or not. So if he decides there will not be a quorum, he cannot be bothered to show up. Those of us without special powers need to show up at the meeting to see if a quorum is possible.

This is the third time this month that the mayor has failed to report to duty. He was a no-show at the regular council meeting on August 8. He was also a no-show at the special meeting scheduled last week for the budget. He seems to misunderstand his responsibility as chairperson of city meetings. The first item on every agenda is "Call to order and establish quorum." The mayor seems able to do this hours ahead of the meeting.

Councilmember Williams rushed back from an unplanned out-of-state trip in order to make this meeting. In a refreshing change of procedure, Mayor ProTem Chavez took over in a respectful and professional way to establish quorum and wait fifteen minutes before cancelling the special meeting. Only three council members were in attendance and four are required for special meetings.

So far, the Mayor has missed three meetings this month and was able to make only one meeting concerning his pet landfill project. Unfortunately, we only had two council members at that meeting on the important landfill issue.

I am reminded of the Mayor's insulting comment reported in the Sentinel and Border Hotline where he called the Board of Adjustments "arrested" even though they have an excellent track record of establishing quorum and taking care of business. Who is "arrested" now?

FOLLOW UP NOTE: Ask and you shall receive! Read the comment below to see the answer to my question, "Where's the mayor?"