There are several versions of this meme currently circulating on social media. One of them goes like this:
WHEN SOMEONE INVITES ME TO
MAKE MYSELF AT HOME
I REARRANGE THEIR FURNITURE
AND DISCIPLINE THEIR CHILDREN
At the risk of overanalyzing the joke, the reason it’s
funny is because we can so vividly picture the outrageous behavior. It’s a kind
of Marxist humor – Groucho, not Karl. Although, maybe some of both.
Someone else’s home is not really our home and we would
never presume to take our host’s invitation so literally but we can laugh at
the image of someone who does, while understanding the violation of boundaries underlying
the joke.
Most of us have had someone in our lives who disrespected
obvious boundaries and in doing so, disrespected us. We probably stopped
inviting them in.
About an hour into the July 12, 2022 meeting of the
Watertown City Council, after dealing with mundane, routine business concerning
NSTAR and National Grid, the time arrived for Councilor Bays to present her
resolution, titled:
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A STATE HOUSE SENATE EMPLOYEE
UNION
You can hear it being read in its entirety here at
1:06:00 or you can go directly to my transcript of Council Vice President Piccirilli’s
statement as to why he would be voting no on the resolution:
(the underlining is mine)
Council Vice President Piccirilli:
“Let me just begin by saying I consistently support unions
and organized labor and I personally support the Massachusetts Senate staff
forming a union, but I’m conflicted about this resolution.
I will be voting no for the simple reason that we are
elected to manage the affairs of Watertown and this resolution deals with an
internal labor issue in the state senate which has nothing to do with the
City of Watertown or the general interest of our residents.
Furthermore a resolution is an official policy directive
from the City of Watertown and this one’s about a matter that is beyond the
jurisdiction of the City Council.
I feel it’s presumptuous for us to weigh-in with a policy
recommendation for the internal affairs of another elected body.
Collective bargaining is an area where emotions run high as
this council is well aware. And Watertown has always taken the prudent approach
during labor disputes by not making public statements and letting the
designated representative negotiate.
Imagine how the City
Council would feel if the state senate issued a resolution telling us what
we should be doing for a labor dispute in Watertown.
I personally support the senate staff in forming a union
but I do not support the Watertown City Council issuing a resolution about it.”
Council Vice President Piccirilli’s statement is about
respecting boundaries. His statement should be required reading for every new
council member and suggested reading for every new council candidate.
Councilor Gannon followed with his statement in favor of
the resolution.
Councilor Gannon:
“I speak in support of the resolution. I am a member of
a union. I come from a family of union members. And I am a leader in my union.
So adopting this may have to do with another bargaining unit but I think
voting for this union, we as a Watertown City Council express support for our
own unionized work forces. We have many unions between the city side and
the school side. I think supporting this resolution would honor our own
existing unionized work force whom we support. And in my experience a unionized
household is well represented in the workplace and has a bigger voice than
individual members. We’ve seen that in other workplaces but I think it’s strong
to authorize to support this resolution and by doing so we support the many
members of our own unionized workforce.”
Councilor Gannon’s statement, which can be summed up as: I
am union born and union bred and when I die, I’ll be union dead should also
be required reading for every new council member and suggested reading for
every new council candidate.
His statement could have served as a powerful example of
clarity and courage had he concluded it with: Though I am union through and
through, it pains me to tell you that because I have such enormous
respect for the integrity of the Watertown City Council – the people’s
governing body and the
institution on which I serve − that I
have no choice but to vote no on this resolution.
Councilor Bays followed with a statement of her own, for
which she sounded oddly unprepared, considering the fact that this was her
resolution.
Councilor Bays:
“I was going to say something similar. I understand where Councilor
Piccirilli is coming from but when it comes to unions, unions are made strong
by the fact that other unions support them. Unions tend to support each other
across the board and I think that if we
are supporting a union anywhere, if we support unions, we are compelled to be
supporting unions across the state and anywhere, if anyone is asking us for
their support we should be giving it to them if we’re actually in support of
unions.”
No, Councilor Bays, the council is not compelled to support
unions “across the state or anywhere,” even if they are asking for the
council’s support. Will you be offering future resolutions to support the
unionizing efforts of Starbucks baristas and Amazon warehouse workers across
the state or anywhere − especially if they ask for the support of the Watertown
City Council?
Council President Sideris offered the final comment.
Council President Sideris:
“I’m going to wrap up by saying that I also fully support
the union efforts and what they mean to the workforce but I have to agree with Councilor
Piccirilli. This is a statehouse matter that you see by our agenda tonight that
was four pages long, has nothing to do with what we do here in the City of
Watertown, unfortunately. That doesn’t mean that if I’m not supporting it I
don’t support unions. I just feel like Councilor Piccirilli that this is not
the place to start making statements. We’re opening the door for every
potential issue that has nothing to do with Watertown and to continue to
come here in front of us so I will not be supporting it, not because I don’t
support unions but because I don’t feel that this is the appropriate place to
be talking about it.”
Opening the door to every potential issue that has nothing
to do with Watertown? Oh yes, that door has swung wide open.
The resolution passed by a five to four vote. Councilors
Palomba, Gardner, and Feltner made no statements of their own but joined Gannon
and Bays to make the resolution an official position statement from the
Watertown City Council – way out of its jurisdiction and squarely into the
internal affairs of another elected body – somewhat like going into someone
else’s house and rearranging the furniture and disciplining their children.
Yes, it's a joke but no, it’s not at all funny.
The state senate is someone else’s house. The city council
is also someone else’s house. It belongs to the people of Watertown, not to the
nine current inhabitants. It’s boundaries are meant to serve the people of Watertown,
as frustratingly limited as that might be to one whose body is stuck in city
hall while her heart and mind yearn for the statehouse.
Those inhabitants who find it too confining really should look
for a more suitable home. There is a lot of real work to be done, real problems
to be solved, and potential crises to be averted.
And that leaves little time for virtue signaling and grandstanding.
Bruce Coltin, The Battle for Watertown
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