I thought the ties that united family together were the strongest, but apparently City Council members share even more of an unbreakable bond. They are willing, and proudly able to overlook the transgressions of a fellow member, giving them support that goes beyond motherly love. Blood might be thicker than water, but it still pales in comparison to City Council.
Several years ago I was playing ball in the house and somehow an antique glass vase, lined with crystals, that had been in my mothers family for generations ended up broken. She was very less then pleased when she heard a crash and came rushing into the living room to find the vase shattered into hundreds of pieces. With me being the only other person home and the ball laying directly in the center of the shards of glass it seemed pretty clear that I was responsible. The evidence was insurmountable, but I still claimed my innocence.
Despite being the youngest and the apple of her eye, my mother had no reservations about seeing me forced to deal with the consequences of my supposed actions. “Wait till your father gets home. This is going to be dealt with,” she said.
Being family, she could have tried to protect me from punishment and say that my father had nothing to do with the broken vase so his involvement was out of the realm of parental responsibility. However, she refused to relinquish her duty of raising a child to not think he was above the rules.
The story is a sharp contrast to the recent happenings of City Council who turned their head on the allegations of John Kessler not paying business taxes or his employees. They not only refused the case to be investigated, but not one council member even seconded the motion to bring it to a vote. Like me and the vase, there was also evidence of guilt surrounding Kessler, but council is so loyal they swept up the shards of glass and threw it away. ‘Accidents happen, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it,’ is what Kessler was basically told by his council family.
If only my mother had been on city council while I was growing up, I could have gotten away with anything.
