When I was on Council, I would have agreed with all of it, but now things seem a little different.
Democracy is messy, embarrassing and untidy, especially for elected officials.
That's why politicians do their best to substitute ersatz democracy for the real thing. That's why the city's public communications office is an aggressively pro-active ministry of propaganda. And that's why city officials might return your calls, but not mine. Actually, that last was a little unfair. I just got off the phone with Council member and former colleague Bill Guman, who took my call right away and answered questions with his usual candor.