Hour 3-3.5, 4/5/22

Every year, City Council gets to take a field trip to Washington DC. It hasn’t happened during Covid, though. They pick the agencies that align with current issues in San Marcos. They meet with staffers, form relationships, find out about grants, and generally broaden their understanding of how the federal government can help San Marcos.

This is the third time I got annoyed with Max Baker. Max is really mad about this trip. He’s mad about:

• the carbon footprint of flying to DC. Doesn’t zoom exist?
• that councilmembers will be lobbied, and that councilmembers will be lobbying others.
• the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) which forbids more than three councilmembers from getting together unless a formal meeting has been called. Won’t they all be on the plane together?

Max asserts that he wants to film the whole trip, in the name of transparency. The lawyer admits that he is allowed to do so, although he should let those around him know that they’re on film. Max asserts that filming the whole thing is just about the same as writing a summary at the end for constituents. If one is okay, the other should be okay.

MAX. STOP IT. Stop making the perfect the enemy of the good. Stop focusing on the drawbacks so hard that you lose track of the possibilities. 

Human nature is relational.  Agencies do not know all the cities individually. If you meet with people, and are nice to them, then you get all the flexibility and agility of someone who knows a system well, who can point you in the right directions. They will provide help tailored specifically for San Marcos.

Max is being willfully reductionist, and I’m getting very weary of it. And for the record: how is video footage different than a written summary?  I don’t know, have you ever read a TV guide? It’s not the same as watching your favorite show.

(This does not mean I’m in favor of those dumb decorum rules from last time! I will defend Max’s right to be contrarian and reductionist to the hilt, even while personally irked by it.)