The City Council Law of Inverse Proportionality

(Aired January 13, 2010)

I'm beginning to think there really is something in the water.  City hall can be pretty weird sometimes, but this week's city council meeting brought an extra measure of weirdness.

A retired doctor had to be scolded for shouting from the peanut gallery.

A former mayor - Mel Rothenburger - was essentially shamed out of council chambers because he couldn't get his cell phone to be quiet.

And a former councillor - Grant Robertson - decided the best way to argue about a dog-owner's rights was with a stuffed toy and a handful of fake dog dung.

But the thing that was at the same time weird and all too familiar was what I call the City Council Law of Inverse Proportionality.  It goes like this: the more an issue is debated, the less will actually be done about it.

This week, a dog-owner in Aberdeen came to council to complain that his dog had been picked up several times even though the neighbourhood loves it and has no problem with it greeting passers-by.  The outcome of this issue was clear to most rational members around the council table - nothing.  By-laws are black and white, their enforcement is often fairly unsympathetic, and there will be conflicts between officers and the public.  By-law officers can exercise common sense, but their and your definition of common sense often don't jive.

It took an hour and a half to come to this conclusion.

I suppose maybe it was worth it, if the public can learn the lesson that you have to have a pretty darn good reason to get the city to bend on its by-laws.  And a wandering dog - no matter how friendly - is not good enough.