angry-mob-playsetTuned in a few minutes ago to the Anaheim City Council’s special meeting on amending council policy regarding how councilmembers agendize items.

I just missed the public comments, but judging from the jeering and hooting from the peanut gallery, it’s pretty clear the usual suspects showed up to spew their hysteria and hyperbole.

What is striking is these some people go completely ape if they perceive someone has been rude to Mayor Tom Tait, but feel completely free to act like goons toward anyone who disagrees with them. Their hypocrisy is astonishing. Last week, one of these usual suspects equated being rude to the mayor with attacking democracy itself (and then within minutes, was jeering other councilmembers from the audience).

One has to wonder how these folks will start behaving once the Year of Kindness is over.

UPDATE: The city council ultimately approved a substitute put forward by Councilwoman Lucille Kring.

Councilman Jordan Brandman’s original proposal was to amend council policy as follows (proposed changes in red):

“It is the policy of the City Council that any member of the City Council may, during the City Council Communications portion of a City Council meeting, request that an item be placed on a future City Council regular meeting agenda. So long as there is assent or concurrence by at least one additional member of the City Council, the item will be agendized.”

Councilwoman Kring suggested they instead require that when the mayor and/or councilmembers want to place an item on a future council agenda, they simple make the request during council communications.

It’s my understanding that under this revision, the mayor will no longer be able to unilaterally place items on the agenda at any time.

There was much sturm and drang during the special council meeting, including claims this will cripple the mayor’s office. Barring future revision of council policy, it is true the mayor will not be able to place items on the agenda at anytime. For example, I believe last week’s discussion item on the Angels negotiation was agendized by Mayor Tait the day before the agenda was posted,.

However, I think it is a real exaggeration for anyone to say this change will cripple city government.  Based on my observations of city government in Anaheim, what is far more damaging and destabilizing is trying to bend City Hall to every outburst and demand from a small but vocal faction of headache collectors and left-wingers who holds themselves out as embodying the Will of the People of Anaheim.