I learned last night that I wasn’t wise.
I’m obviously not very bright. What kind of person with an ounce of sense would spend a perfectly good Friday night in a City Council meeting talking about City budgets? Obviously somebody who isn’t too bright or who doesn’t otherwise have a life.
I wasn’t told that I lacked wisdom. Neither were two of my colleagues on the Council. However, the three of us—the majority on the Council—were carefully excluded from the elite Circle of the Wise, as defined by a person who spoke about “wisdom” at the meeting. The absence of wisdom that was implied left two of my colleague a little ticked off, and left me speechless (for once). All I could think was: “how dumb is this? Here is an individual who makes part of his living pretending to be somebody he is not, and who makes the other part of his living milking a City contract awarded by majority vote of the Council. Now this individual is going public impugning the intellectual skills of the majority that butters his bread. I might not belong in the Circle of the Wise. But, I am damn sure not that stupid.”
The person who spoke about wisdom, identified those who belonged in the Circle of the Wise. But, before I reveal the Mensa-like qualifications required for inclusion in this elite group, let me give you some background on the meeting.
I have a core belief that government acts to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community and then stays out of everybody’s personal business. I believe that one of the main “health, safety and welfare” responsibilities comes in the form of public infrastructure, and I have little tolerance for inadequate or unsafe infrastructure. I believe that the City has short-changed critical infrastructure over the past eight years and is creating conditions of unacceptable risk to people in the community. I believe that the City has expended vast sums of public funds on matters that lack the health, safety and welfare priority. I believe that the budget submitted by the City Manager continued an eight-year pattern of delaying priority infrastructure improvements. I believe that so strongly that I introduced a motion to amend the proposed budget to incur debt and to direct the City Manager to complete critical infrastructure projects on time, and within budget.
Whether that is wise or not, that is what I believe. That is how I vote.
Here is what is took to be admitted to the Circle of the Wise last night:
One of the “Wisemen”, Wiseman #1 praised the courage of the City’s electric line crews for working through a lightning storm on Wednesday night to restore power to his home in Magnolia Point; chastised the unwise majority for criticizing the City Manager; and proposed a moratorium on improvements to the City’s infrastructure. I may not be wise, but I concur that our electric crews showed courage. I know, because I was on-site for the whole evening, Wednesday night. The thought ran through my unwise head that, had the City Manager completed the work recommended by the City’s electrical engineers in 1999, the damaged electrical circuit could have been bypassed quickly, service could have been restored, and the damaged electrical components could have been replaced the next morning under safer conditions. Criticizing the City Manager for not getting the job done on time and within budget is not the same as criticizing the guys who are doing a job under dangerous conditions, working with the limited infrastructure they have been provided, and doing a helluva good job. But, what do I know? I am not “wise”.
Wiseman #2 disputed the reports submitted by licensed engineers to the City. In his wisdom, the consulting engineers, selected by the City Manager and hired unanimously by the Council, were “biased” in their reports. Wisdom would have it that the engineers were seeking to make a quick buck instead of fulfilling their professional obligation to their clients and to public safety. Wiseman #2, who is not an engineer, sought to pass an engineering judgement on the professional opinions of multiple engineers, from multiple firms, at multiple periods of time. From a liability standpoint, that would be like me pushing aside a cardiologist and performing open-heart surgery procedures myself. That’s not too bright. But, according to the wisdom guru, this constitutes wisdom.
Wiseman #2 got caught by the Mayor telling a lie to the Council about contacting the Ocala City Manager. In our youth, we learn that we are supposed to tell the truth. We learn there is no wisdom to lying.
Wiseman #3, who has a degree in economics, stated that it was “irresponsible” to borrow money for capital improvements, arguing a “pay-as-you go” strategy. Here is the economic model: Let’s say you have a car that you use to commute through heavy traffic to get to work. Let’s say the car has really bad brakes, and you are one block away from a brake repair shop that accepts cash or credit cards. Let’s also say that you have money in a savings account that bears an interest rate of 5.2%. The bank is twenty miles away through heavy traffic. Let’s say you also have a credit card that charges an interest rate of 2.62%. THE QUESTION: Do you charge the brake job to your credit card at 2.62% interest, or do you drive across town on bad brakes to take money out of your savings account so you can claim to be debt free. Is that a tough call, or what? IN MY OPINION, of course you borrow the money at 2.62% and leave your money in the bank to earn 5.2%. And you damn sure don’t keep driving across town on bad brakes. But what do I know? I don’t have an economics degree and I am not admitted to the Circle of the Wise.
The Wisewoman in the Circle of the Wise, didn’t offer much except bauble-head nods to the affirmative when the wisemen spoke, and sour facial expressions when those with no-wisdom spoke. I am not sure how that constitutes wisdom or whether “wisdom by association” counts. I had a friend who always got straight A’s in high school. We agreed on everything, but my report card never looked as good as his. I learned that having smart friends didn’t make me smart. But, that’s knowledge. What we’re talking about here is “wisdom”.
I am not the smartest person in the world, and I apparently don’t meet the stardards for wisdom set by the City’s Wisdom Guru. I am only smart enough to ask questions of professionals who know what they’re doing with respect to the City infrastructure, which supports the health, safety and welfare of the Citizens I am charged to protect. These professionals say the City needs to address infrastructure needs quickly. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to decide what needs to be done. It only takes a little wisdom.