CHAPTER FIVE
At the conclusion of the council session, I gather my things and text Dio.
Hey, I need to talk to Miss Sonia. Do you need to go? How’s Echo doing?
Mark and I have plans in a couple of hours, but I am good for now. Echo seems okay, but Zhengli wanted to take him outside. Soon Yee agreed and now they’re all going outside and will return in a few mins. They had to wait on Kyle anyway, he’s talking to Wendy now.
Cool. I will for sure be done well before your date with Mark. Thanks!
I make my way to Miss Sonia and wait for a moment as she finishes typing the last of the meeting minutes, then focuses on me. “Miss Sonia, has any councilmember ever asked that we change the meeting to two hours instead of ninety minutes?” Bailiff Dichali drifted over to her desk after he called for the meeting to be adjourned and is casually watching everyone gather up their things and leave. At my question, I feel his attention shift to me.
“Oh, my, yes. Dichali, you may remember it better than me, go on.”
“Well, Councilor Graham, I remember about six years ago, Tracy Fischer changed the time from an hour to ninety minutes.”
“Yes, I got a request from her just a few sessions after her first term began saying that the meeting should be ninety minutes. I thought the request came from the whole council, so I changed the agenda to reflect this.” Miss Sonia sounds put out recalling the memory.
“Then just before I called the session to order, one of the councilors called us both up to the bench. He then fussed at us about making a ‘unilateral decision’ to change the meeting end time. Tracy Fischer made certain to keep out of the commotion, even though the change came from her. Finally, when he began to yell at Miss Sonia, I had to set him straight.”
“Dichali was wonderful. He said even if there was a legitimate concern, there was no call to be disrespectful of anyone. Then he asked me to explain what happened, his police deputy was showing. When I finished, you could tell they were mad at Tracy Fischer, but none of them said anything to her. She didn’t say anything either. Nor did that jerk apologize to me. And really, they couldn’t have looked over the agenda before the session and brought up the time thing then? You know I publish a tentative agenda one week before, then set the formal agenda the Wednesday before the session and both had ninety minutes listed.”
“We’ve been through a lot of councilors over the years, Councilor Graham, but we both agree that Tracy Fischer was the worst. She was almost enough to make us quit. But Miss Sonia and I banded together, and Tracy Fischer learned to leave us alone.”
“To answer your question, Gray, about three years ago, Tracy Fischer told me the meeting should be changed to two hours. I sent the request to the Council and they shot it down. The meeting at ninety minutes already runs close to two hours anyway. Which I never understood, we meet every two weeks. Anyway, if they change it to two hours, no telling when it would actually end. Tracy Fischer made a bad impression on many of her co-councilors over the years, so they were more likely to speak up against her, even with her father behind pulling strings.”
“Do you two realize you always call her Tracy Fischer? You can call me Gray, by the way. Councilor Graham seems so formal.”
“Tracy Fischer deserves to be called by two names, though perhaps they should be two more vulgar words. A more sickeningly sweet outside but nasty inside person you’ll never meet. You could see her father behind most of what she said or how she acted.” Bailiff Dichali doesn’t mince words.
“Cool, but this was just a little ice breaker before I got to the meat of the matter. Sorry I stirred up sour memories. Miss Sonia, my real first question is concerning my response to Mr. Langdon’s proposal. Do I directly reply to him, or do I draft a response for you to send as Council Clerk? Also, does the rest of the council have to approve my response before it goes out? Sorry, but I figure you’re the expert as you’ve dealt with many rookie councilors over the years.”
“Behold, Miss Sonia. A Psycept that doesn’t think she knows everything.”
“He’s just playing, Gray. Most Psycepts we’ve associated with over the years have been just fine. There is the occasional councilor that lets the position go to their head.”
“Or thinks having council administrators means that we are their personal assistants.”
“Yes, that too. Gray, it would be better for the response to come from the Council Clerk. Besides being more official, it also makes it a matter of record. This means it can be referred to in future discussions. For instance, if Mr. Langdon takes some of your suggestions and revises the proposal based on them, he can refer to addressing items from an official response in his new proposal. But if you just send him an informal note, then that cannot be brought before the PsyCouncil. This is to avoid the appearance of impropriety or backroom dealing. Secondly, if the response comes from Council Clerk, then yes, it will need majority approval from the rest of the councilors. No need to hold a formal vote, their email approval is sufficient.”
“Great, thank you Miss Sonia. Second issue, I have talked to the ABQ Area Financial Chief. Bailiff Dichali, I know that each year we open submissions for Council Bailiff, but let’s face it, the position is yours for as long as you want it. I appreciate the way you dress for our council meetings
