I’m writing this post from my doghouse in Ron’s backyard but I’m not actually in my doghouse. I’m in the kitchen hoping he drops part of his breakfast on the floor as usual so I can get something to eat without lying next to the damn Pavlovian MannersMinder machine that’s supposed to change my personality by dribbling out two kibble bits at a time.
Yeah, right. Good luck. Guys beat me with sticks when I was a pup and couldn’t break me. They dumped me on the streets and I survived. I am Bruno, LA’s Watchdog, nipping at the heels of all those abusers of pets and even people.
I’ve wished sometimes I could be in two places at once to clean up the mess out there ever faster.
That’s why I got so inspired this morning and decided to prowl the backyard and push the automatic writing button on the computer..
The Dog Trainer’s David Zahniser’s and Maeve Reston’s showed me the light with their exhaustive investigative piece revealing how our City Council members actually vote while eating sandwiches in the back rooms behind the council chambers and cutting deals with lobbyists who get free parking and free access as if they were Council members too, which they might as well be.
You think fleas are bad?
It seems their presence isn’t even needed in the Council Chamber when votes are taken. They just push a button and the computer automatically votes yes for hungry council members, or those who want to meet with lobbyists and, as the Dog Trainer points out, the members of the mayor’s staff for some mysterious reason.
“The city clerk’s office, which maintains the council’s official record, does not track how often members leave the council floor while still being counted as present,” our own Woodward and Bernstein wrote. “Times reporters (Dave and Maeve, it rhymes) monitored the back rooms repeatedly from August to February, however, and found that at least half of the council used them for private sessions during public meetings.”
Seven months???
Geez, the city’s finances are going down the toilet (where voting members often are hanging out) and the Dog Trainer is firing half its reporters but Dave & Maeve – I really do love that! – are sneaking around to catch Dennis Zine eating a salami sandwich with lobbyist Ben Reznik or spot somebody grabbing a smoke.
Any minute now I expect them in Ron’s backyard sneaking a peek on what he’s up to. I can’t wait, it would be more fun than biting the poolman. .
Every good story deserves a follow-up.
Woof!