I attended the recent swearing in ceremony at Town Hall.

Kudos to Mayor Dickey for her polite and heartfelt comments to outgoing Councilpersons Magazine, Scharnow and Spelich. Likewise, their parting comments about serving our community with intelligence, dignity and historical perspective were appreciated. Each will be missed.

Councilperson Toth was humble in accepting her new role. Councilperson Kalivianakis proclaimed a new era of good feelings where bygones are truly bygones. I’ve found time grinds empty promises into a fine powder. Real promises with a commitment to see them through generally become reality over time. I have an eye on my Rolex, and that’s all I have to say about that.

Councilperson Skillicorn entered the ring like a wrestler executing a flying scissors headlock on the sign ordinance, which was entertaining, I guess. Conveniently, he forgot his other main campaign promise of rebuilding the Town’s public-facing budget numbers so that every dime is visible every minute. I’ll wait, because that takes real work and not showboating.

And finally, breaking out his rhetorical shofar, our prayer warrior from Illinois promised to push his brand of religion on us through prayer at Council meetings. Why don’t the devout just gather in private – say, in one of their offices – before entering the Council chamber? Are prayers inside chambers more effective than outside? Why make a show of their prayers inside the chamber like, you know, the Pharisees? Why didn’t he campaign on such a divisive issue? Because it would have cost him votes, plain and simple.

By the way, you know who never has to publicly pray over the PA system before starting work? Airline pilots. If they, of all people, don’t need to pray with their passengers before closing the doors or before going around thunderstorms, why is it necessary before discussing easements?