Among the nine Councillors, chosen every two years by an esoteric system of counting preferential ballots, the first task of anyone who wishes to succeed in the game is to build a personal constituency by whatever means.

Several of the methods were on show at the session of 9/11 this past Monday, with all players present and accounted for. At the Cambridge City Hall, a commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the events of 9/11, begun earlier in the afternoon, ended before the Council was called to order, less than half an hour later than its scheduled meeting time. The time then given over to the performance of the ritual sacerdotal function of civic government took longer than usual.

After the habitual and perfunctory performance of an oath of allegiance to both a token and the God-secured institution betokened, (ending with the ineffectual invocation of ". . . liberty and justice for all"), we were suddenly switched to the main event: a "State Visit."

The occasion was the street fair put on by the Societa S. S. Cosima & Damiano in Gaeta Square—corner of Porter and Warren Street in East Cambridge—organized by the sponsoring families who had arrived on these shores in the nineteen twenties from Gaeta. The State Visit itself, that of a foreign dignitary, His Honor, the Mayor of Gaeta, Signore Massimo Magliozzi was duly announced. The ceremonies of greeting, giving recognitions, honoring and presentations were accomplished with all due pomp and efficiency that Mayor Reeves could summon. Personal reminiscences accompanying the various recitations from participants were brief, And all was communicated in English followed by Italian (order reversed when the statement originated with the Mayor of Gaeta).

The invitation to Vice Mayor Toomey, Mr. East Cambridge, to speak followed, this enabled the piggy-backing of another visiting dignitary onto the affair—the only one whose regalia made him worthy of attention. Vice-mayor Toomey explained that "Cambridge is the greatest city," and praised the work of city staff in making the festival possible.

In retrospect, one might suppose that vote collecting had begun with the gavel, but it really flowered when Councillor Galluccio was given the floor to say that Cambridge has a great Italian tradition, and to express his feelings of victimization by TV stereotypes (followed by translation for the Gaetan delegation).

Councillor Sullivan took his turn at vote gathering, by telling us how Frankie Avalon was there and the street was painted with the colors of the Italian flag. Five generations of Italians at the festival from all over Middlesex County. Saints, and lots of pasta, he said (followed by translation for the Gaetan delegation).

I waited and hoped for some reference to Gaeta olives. None came. We waited for some reference to the Sixth Fleet of the U. S. Navy. None came.

Councillor Decker (after many elections, still youngest) rose to speak of the importance of bringing Cambridge youth to Gaeta, and Gaetan youth to Cambridge. Allowing her the emphasis of the obvious—the absence of younger people in the ceremonies was glaring everyone in the face—Mayor Reeves stopped the impassioned repetition by agreeing that cultivating exchange of youth was desirable as was cultural exchange and that they had already discussed educational opportunities (followed by translation for the Gaetan delegation—with additional response this time from Signore Magliozzi who agreed and was translated to English).

At this point—the atmosphere was getting charged with tensions of upstaging—Councillor Galluccio spoke again, taking the responsibility of associating himself with the presence of "Father (Anthony) Spinosa," and the Mayor correcting him, i.e., to say "Monsignor!" gave a far more satisfying reference to our guest's costume. A slight acerbity in the tune of his words served to emphasize that he the Mayor was in charge of the order of events. And he had yet to perform the "Key to the City" rite (signifying the "key to the hearts of its citizens') (followed by translation for the Gaetan delegation—in case they could not tell what was going on), and having done this much, presented Mayor Massimo Magliozzi with the gift of a fine gold watch to remember us by.

When Monsignor Anthony Spinosa, who had left Cambridge a long time ago, and had returned for the 80th anniversary of the celebration, was finally introduced, he did consider it appropriate to speak. His speech was the most melodious and graceful that I have heard in many a year. But I admit that I was happy that he spoke briefly after he mentioned that his mother was ". . .one of the foundresses" of the celebration. And even happier to walk about after sitting with people who had waited through 26 minutes of ceremonial, after a delay of twenty minutes in assembling, and who were attending the meeting of the Cambridge City Council with other concerns.

Mayor Reeves announced a "two-second recess."

Photography in the Council Chamber and other matters in the halls continued for about fifteen minutes; long enough to observe the social gathering, the shared happiness of people who are pleased to still be around and able to meet with each other. I also did have the opportunity to speak to Monsignor Spinosa in his splendid robes, and did ask him where all the young people were. He said that there were many young people but they were at home with their families, not at a City Council meeting. He has a truly beautiful speaking voice.

More than an hour had passed, for the citizens who were waiting their turn to address the Councillors, when the Council meeting resumed. Mayor Reeves, however, after calling the meeting to attention, first informed us that "Councillor Decker would like to suspend the rules for a stated purpose" and, turning to Councillor Decker asked her to go ahead.

It took her only two minutes to say that there were two occasions (one, a 5-year anniversary, the second a 20 year anniversary) that she wished to celebrate; that she had asked Terry Greene, a lifelong "activist" on behalf of peace and justice, as a member of the 9/11 families—her brother had met his death on flight 93. And also she had invited members of the Cambridge delegation that had accompanied and thus protected the return of a group of refugees from the civil war in El Salvador to their village, San Jose Las Flores. She also found time to announce the presence of Cambridge's chief protector of human rights, Representative Alice Wolf, thus prompting an apology from hizonor, the Mayor, for having failed to recognize her. And she found a few other things to say, that I have failed to record. (Councillor Decker speaks more words per minute than any other Councillor.)

The vote collecting came to a temporary halt. Terry Greene made a simple and direct appeal for rationality. She spoke briefly—less than ten minutes—and I listened carefully. Rarely have I heard an argument more impassioned by reason and clarity for the immediate importance of "addressing the root causes of violence" in today's world. There was no discussion.

Allowing no pause (dead air) for anyone to even begin to think, let alone take in what had just been said, Councillor Decker segued (at length) into her next event—San Jose Las Flores—over the backdrop of its "visual." A display of a frieze-like woven tapestry depiction of buildings, a church was accompanied by a voice-over narration of the events as experienced by the returning villagers and their Cantabridgian escort two decades ago. Mario Davilo asked for continued support for our sister city. And Kathy Hoffman said that she shares the frustration about violence (in our city).

Mayor Reeves made introduction of two young men, Mr. O'Rourke (from Cork) and Mr. Hadad (from Lebanon), two guests of our city, terminating the vote collection for the nonce. Apologizing to the citizens who had been waiting over an hour and a half for the "Public Comment" (Item 2 on the Agenda) to begin, Mayor Reeves took ". . . .full responsibility for the lateness," and said that he would relax the rules.

Two speakers addressed the matter of the consolidation of two Neighborhood Conservation Districts into one. Two young women spoke in favor of a Council Order concerning the boycotting of Dow products by the City, as a response to Dow's refusal to assume the responsibilities that came with their purchase of Union Carbide, the corporation responsible for the disaster in Bhopal, India. Another speaker asked that the City take a position on the efforts of Starbucks to prohibit organizing of its workers. Few of the Councillors paid much attention.

I was grateful for the shift of tone that came about when Ms. Lorraine Scott rose to speak. No sooner had she begun, than various Councillors began tending to other affairs, one approaching the Chair for a private exchange. She stopped speaking, said that she could wait a little longer until she had the attention of the people she was addressing. She demanded respect. One or two Councillors looked shocked.

She spoke about the violence, the gun-play in our streets. About the shooting that had happened at 3:00 in the afternoon near a park in "Area 4" where she lives. She cried out that Cambridge is not the O K Corral. She stated that the police and others are aware of who is involved in the outbreak of violence, and threatened a class-action suit on the failure of the police to act preventatively. She is tired of meetings and demanded action that would remove fear. I was reminded of her value to the meetings of the Association of Cambridge Neighborhoods, when we first began to meet regularly. She knew when action was needed.

I spoke briefly about the condition of the public ways, the large number of Council Orders that read very much like resident complaints, and the reports from the Manager's office that make it clear that there is no one in the City with the political will to improve matters.

Public comment came to an end shortly after 8:30, and attention turned to the City Manager Reports, the next item on the agenda. Councillors decided to set aside the rules for the sake of taking up an urgent matter, including a "late order" concerning the shootings that have been occurring in "Area 4" (later noting that they had also occurred in other parts of the city).

The pièce de résistance of the Monday evening Dog and Pony Show was coming on stage, with the arrival of the ritual scapegoat disguised as a City Manager, who solemnly seated himself in the roasting chair facing the Council.

I do not recall which of the Councillors began first. But Citizen Scott's use of the epithet O K Corral, triggered the knowledge stored in the social memory of some, not others—there is some sort of divide. Councillors Decker, Simmons, Reeves, Galluccio, and perhaps Sullivan and Toomey are in the know. Councillors Kelley, Davis, and Murphy are innocent. Social class difference, ethnicity and race, education show.

The Police Commissioner is absent from the scene. He has announced his departure and is leaving in March, next year. Thus, the person clearly responsible for the safety of the city and the Peace of the Realm is the City Manager. The content of the attacks made on him by the various Councillors—not the rhetoric of their delivery—seems to rely on esoteric knowledge concerning names of the "cowboys" who are shooting it out in the neighborhood of the unpoliced parks, squares, and streets of our city (the above cited O K Corral).

But, they, the Councillors, aver that the police have the same knowledge about the perpetrators. Thus, the claim of the Police Commissioner that the incidents are due to outsiders, and press reports of "gang activity" are equally false and are due to ignorance of the facts possessed by both the police and some Councillors (and their friends). They, the Councillors know that the violence can be stopped. Why does the Manager fail to do something!

At one point, the City Manager calmly pointed out that whoever (in the Police Department?) said that the-shooting-in-the-afternoon occurred during a change of shift for the Police patrols, was mistaken. There are always patrols "on call" during a "change of shift."

The torturing of the City Manager continued. The heir apparent, the Emperor's nephew, came on stage out of the wings, walked slowly toward the table, to where The Man was seated, and returned without uttering a word. I had no idea that the script included a "dumb show" and was easily impressed.

The main emphasis of the comments had to do with the fact that we are talking about the behaviors and interactions between people who are a part of our community. People who are known in our community. Families who are a part of our community and who suffer from our inability to remedy the situation. There was mention of the need for internal peace. There was mention of the importance of youth programs, the need for policing, the importance of crime prevention.

After a little more than ten minutes of this, he was invited to respond, and broke. He cried that he was doing everything he could. He has feelings too. He wishes that this would not happen. Children are always silenced by Daddy's tears. But then he blew it (for the "good" Democrats—the Progressives). He shouted through his cries of pain, "If bad people are hell-bent on doing bad things, like blowing up the World Trade Center, they will do it!"

At this use of "9/11," a groan went through the audience. Councillor Toomey, insufficiently impressed—he is pretty good at shedding crocodile tears himself—interrupted to inquire about the timetable for bringing in the new Police Commissioner to replace the one leaving in March. And the Manager responded calmly that the opening has been announced and recited the complete and lengthy list of places where it has been advertised—from memory.

In response to the "late Order" asking for a direct liaison between his office and "Area 4" the Manager said that he would make the appointment immediately—"Rich" Rossi, (Assistant City Manager, Heir Apparent) and himself.

At 9:00 PM, three hours after the sitting had begun, another special dispensation allowed Council Order #35, concerning the release of operating funds to the Cambridge Multi-Cultural Arts Center (CMAC), to be taken out of order. A delegation headed by the director testified. It was immediately obvious that problem solving by a deliberative body is best conducted with the evidence submitted by citizens fresh in everyone’s mind. That true dialog can serve us all. Dismissive contempt—cynicism—contempt of "process" is best served and abetted by keeping the facts and their use in deliberation as far afart as possible.

I had all I needed of the evening's thought provoking entertainment that I could handle and departed. On the way out, I noticed Bob Winter and Richard Harding, engaged in conversation, and politely interrupted them to ask them to consider why not one of the Councillors, in their request for information concerning crime prevention—Healy had said, as if speaking of recycling, "I would hope that some of them are salvageable."—not one of them had mentioned the Police Review and Advisory Board. Still waiting for action, legislation, by the City Council for more than a year and a half—three years at least, since they collaborated in its destruction, at the very moment when it was taking the actions that they were seeking. Richard suggested that I go back into the Council Chamber and ask them. He knows full well that unprotected citizens are forbidden to ask questions out of turn. I intend to reserve my thoughts about government until I can have another go at it, after the next show.

After I got home and lay down, my mind was empty of anything other than beautiful sound, my brain reverberating the dulcet tones of the voice (chrysostom) of Monsignor Antonio Spinosa, as I murmured this beautiful name Spinosa, spi no .....