Dan Rowan and Dick Martin were a classic example of a comedic team with one straight actor, and another with all the good lines. In one of my favorite exchanges, Dan carefully discussed the threat of overpopulation on our planet, and concluded with a rhetorical question: “Dick, did you know that there is a woman giving birth on Earth every 20 seconds?”
Dick listened, sprouted a shocked look on his face, and responded: “Well, we have to find her and stop her!”
Dan, of course, would eventually tire of Dick’s obtuse behavior, and call it a night. “Say good night, Dick,” he directed, and Dick would oblige with “Good night, Dick.”
The Sacramento City Council wishes it could do the same with protesters that have arrived and turned their meetings into a shambles: say good night, folks. Boomers will recall Judy Collins line in a song describing official reactions to riots in 1965: “Go home, go home, please leave us alone, we’ll be glad to talk in the morning.”
Three waves of protests have arrived at the Sacramento council chambers in recent years. The Occupy protests started in 2011 and demanded social and economic injustice. City council chambers were, indeed, occupied, but the disruption to the official agenda was minimal.
The second wave was focused on homelessness. Homeless advocates arrived to scold the council for its failure to adopt a comprehensive program to find shelter for those on the street, as well as a safety net of social services. The city’s response that it lacks funding to provide such services has fallen on deaf ears.
Another group, only slightly less vocal, upset at the conditions on the street…unsanitary, dirty, unsafe…presented demands of the business community, and residents, for remedial action, pretty much involving removal of offenders who were camping out. The details of this massive relocation effort…to where? With what accommodations? At what cost?...have never been clear.
It is a scientific fact that ocean waves travel at different speeds, and the result is that on any given beach there are likely to be “sets” of waves, in which one wave will be the biggest. This is sometimes a set of three, sometimes seven. In our local case, the third wave of protests has been the most vigorous, sustained, and disruptive to city council business. The issue? You might have guessed: Hamas, Israel, Palestinians, Gaza.
The city council on Tuesday joined some 70 other cities in passing a resolution relating to Gaza. While foreign relations and policy are acknowledged to be the sole bailiwick of the federal government (except for Texas and Florida) the local officials have felt compelled to demonstrate their humanitarian concern and desire for compromise as we deal with the trauma of a war going on the other side of the globe.
Extensive public comment (before passing the resolution the city council heard from approximately 80 speakers, each allotted two minutes) is a feature of our local bodies. It has never been suggested, however, that this is an efficient method of dealing with contentious issues. It is, like our democratic system itself, messy.
Give him the credit that is due: the resolution eventually adopted was the result of intensive outreach by the mayor. In the end, the resolution drew support from some of the actors but, predictably, not all. The dozen folks that were released the next morning from jail (arrested for failure to leave the council chambers in peace) promised to return. After all, civil disobedience in the face of wrongful action by an illegitimate government is an American tradition.
In our case, the recent pattern is now standard: the council meeting gets started amid a murmuring of dissent in the audience, with a few loud comments, some catcalls, some disruption. The mayor then interrupts the council discussion to engage with the audience members, warns them of their possible removal if they continue, and reads a formal statement of trespass. The protesters are unimpressed and increasingly angry and vocal. The mayor then adjourns the meeting and leads the council through the rear door, leaving the police to take care of matters.
On Tuesday evening it took the police two hours to clear the chamber. A dozen or so protesters refused to leave and were arrested.
This all meant, of course, that the completion of city business on the agenda took place late at night in a chamber from which the public was absent. No one seeks this result.
I sympathize with the mayor and council. In my term as mayor of Ventura, we also found ourselves suffering from the scourge of late-night meetings. There were, indeed, some complex issues that required detailed consideration. There were also some contentious issues that attracted public comment. As a bonus, the members of the city council pretty much didn’t like each other, making any agreement, including adjournment, difficult to reach. So, we labored on, many times past midnight.
In most cases, controversy calms down after a while. There was, for example, a big tax issue regarding payment for dredging in Ventura that raged for several years, but eventually the angry homeowners retreated, grumbling, to enjoy their beachside amenities. Here, the concerns of the Occupy folks remain—we certainly haven’t seen the legislative and societal changes they sought—but it’s tough to keep a movement energized, so it’s pretty quiet.
These other waves, though, might be different. One key factor is whether the issue at hand remains on the front page and in the public consciousness. How might that happen?
In the case of Vietnam, the news reported not only deaths of young Americans, but the seeming failure of the administration to make meaningful progress in ending the war. The news was graphic. People were mad. Many of those who supported the war eventually tired of hearing excuses. The war became unpopular. Protests were energized.
In the case of the homeless, the local press reports regularly on the city’s efforts to respond to the issue. The reports include not just dry facts about government programs, but the stories of real people, on real streets, dealing with the chaos in their lives. The absence of a solution angers many people, and they protest. This isn’t going away.
The third wave of Israel/Hamas/Gaza has even more energy than the prior issues. There is the news of horrific events, of course. The politics. The deaths. The seeming failure of the government to solve the problem. There is also the weight of history, dating back millenia.
The resolution the other evening was adopted by the city council in good faith, but the issue is too broad to be contained within the four corners of any document. It seems likely that the dynamics, including the effects of the ongoing war, will continue to incite deep emotions and debate. Debate will ensue, at two minutes a speaker, which seems likely to send the city council in continuing late-night sessions played to an empty room.
Unlike the world of Rowan and Martin, there is no way to simply conclude comments, complete business, and go home. And, unfortunately, as the contentious meetings extend into the night, good humor disappears as well.
Say goodnight, Dick. And hope everyone wakes up in a better mood.