You've got 3 minutes....I used 30 seconds.

I'm not an 'activist.' But I'm a bit interested in my city government. Right now it's a royal mess...I won't go into the details.

But after a meeting of concerned citizens on a Sunday evening, it was plain that we needed to speak up, for the truths and against the untruths (aka rumors, lies, etc), the next day, Monday, before the council met in a closed session.

I came into that city council meeting a bit late but I was able to grab a seat in the front row after I filled out a speaker's slip.

I often like to hear what the others before me have to say. I'll watch the city council meetings on TV..and if I get pissed off enough, I'll either ride my bike or drive there to offer my opinion.

(BTW -  Alameda is very quiet late at night, once the council meetings or the school board meetings are adjourned. It can be cold/windy/foggy/warm/calm, but the night is so still, it's a bit magical.)

I made a statement to the group about being short, sweet, and to the point on that Sunday evening. And hopefully, we were not going to repeat the same thing as the others, on that Monday night.

My turn. I introduced myself, said to the Mayor, and the 4 other council members, something like

"We need the truth, you need to release the tape, and we need to follow the law. I would assume that most of you consider yourselves as being in the business of public service. It seems to me that some of you are in the self-service business."

As I walked back to my seat, I did a quick glance back to the crowd and some were standing and yelling "Yes! that's telling it like it is!!"

And that's what came to me, earlier that morning, while lying in bed....the non-relation of public service vs. self-service. That's kinda magical.

live richly, marilyn