My rant for today

Every time I hear a city councillor say "I'll be brief" or "I won't repeat what's already been said," I cringe because that's exactly what they're not going to do!
Tuesday night's (Aug. 7) was a perfect example of how these people can get out of control and then drag out a meeting.
I've already written about this council somehow charming me, and I still enjoy covering their work, but there are nights, like Tuesday, when I want to scream at them to just call the question already!
These are reasonably intelligent people who are in the positions they're in, hopefully, because they want to improve their community. That should be the sole motive for sitting in council chambers. There should be no:
• talking for the sake of talking so it looks like you're doing your job,
• allowing emotions to overrule your common sense because you want to look good to people sitting in the audience or the television cameras,
• asking inane questions of delegations because you weren't listening properly to the information they had already quite clearly laid out.
The Tuesday meeting went to 11 p.m. and a little beyond and as Mayor Paul Ayotte pointed out, little was accomplished.
Trying to make the County EMS purchase look like a bad deal was simply a waste of time that seemed prompted by some councillors feeling snubbed when the deal was made. Getting that building and having Signum renovate it is a huge financial saving for the County and City.
And Jack Doris is absolutely right in his objection to the larger than inflation rate raises submitted for some city employees. At a time when this city should be leading the way on fighting for those less fortunate now that we have a Task Force on Poverty, how can that kind of spending be justified?
That kind of stalling tactic I can appreciate because it is a genuine attempt to force council to play fair.
Some of these council meetings need a referee, not a mayor, leading them.
Cut the dramatics, councillors, and get the job done.