The holiday season is upon us; and with it, come the reindeer games.

That’s the only way to really describe the December 7th City Council meeting, as the Mayor and City Council butted heads and locked horns over one issue after another. Council members Marshall, Barton and Murphy trotted and strutted before the audience, still smug about their recent veto override victory and ready to dish out more punishment for the Mayor.

Early in the meeting was some relatively minor business – clerk copy fees, pawn shop registration and fund transfers – and then came the $6.00 surcharge Police Chief Deborah Davis wants to add to moving violations in order to meet the funding requirement for a federal stimulus grant.

What should have been a no-brainer became the first horn-lock of the evening. Citing rather irrelevant reasons, Councilman Murphy moved to table the vote, followed by Barton’s eager second. At first, it seemed like an attempt to deny the Mayor something she wanted; despite her protestations that delay might hurt our chances at winning the grant. It became apparent later that there was more to it than that.

The night wore on, and after a lengthy and surreal alley vacancy discussion, came another potshot at City Hall. This time, it was a lob at the Controller. The Board of Works normally pays all of the City’s bills, but in case an expense comes up between their weekly meetings – or is overlooked and not submitted in time – the Controller can simply pay it, thus avoiding any late fees or charges; and then submit a receipt at the next Works meeting. Mary Jo Barton wanted to take that authority away.

MaryAnn Kratochvil took it rather personally. She said she has never abused that authority; and with the staffing cuts to her department, it was more likely than ever that something may get overlooked. In light of that, she asked why the Council wanted to suddenly take away her ability to pay bills as needed. Mary Jo made some haughty comments about “doing our jobs,” and then made an obscure reference to Hiatt Printing (which has an open bid contract with the City).

Not only was there no reason to believe that there was anything improper about the Controller’s behavior or the City’s contract with Hiatt, the ordinance didn’t give the Council any real authority or oversight. It was just one of those loud throaty calls reindeer make to boast their prowess.

The final butt came shortly afterward, in a heated discussion over Animal Control. Because of the cuts imposed by the Council earlier in the month – combined with a stipulation in the union contract – the department was left with two people to run it, which was impossible. After some exchanges between Sam Marshall, the Mayor and Linda Bir-Conn, came the clincher: The Mayor asked why the Council didn’t consult with her before making these cuts, to which Marshall responded that she hadn’t consulted with them before laying off firefighters last summer.

There it was. For the past two years, the Mayor didn’t want to work with the City Council, and the Council didn’t want to work with the Mayor; and it all came to a head during the last regular meeting of the year.

Marshall and Murphy, giddy with testosterone at this point, defended their behavior with absurdity. Marshall asked me why I didn’t care that the police surcharge would result in more people being pulled over and arrested for DUI, me being a bartender and all.

Murphy was concerned that police would target his district for citations, pointing to the amount of time already being spent in the low-income (and high-crime) neighborhoods as evidence.

Murphy and Polk argued with each other; Barton vacillated between smirking and shaking her head; Gregory seemed genuinely mortified; King fiddled with his gavel; and  Conatser and Dishman just sat there, waiting to go home.

There were times that I countered their claims; and others when I just stared dumbfounded, trying to make some sense of what was just said. In the end, though, there was no winner. The ordinance remained tabled, the animal shelter remained closed, and you could see the reindeer working out how they were going to get back at their opponents next time around.

Online discussion forums will no doubt be busy with people pointing fingers and laying blame for all of this; but in reality, it’s our fault. We have allowed, and even encouraged, this behavior on the part of our elected officials. These people – these petty, juvenile people – represent the people that elected them. They represent us.

Like us, they are often more concerned with which buck wins than they are with what is being trampled beneath their hooves during the struggle.