I have yet to live in a city where the City Council has even a remote clue about how they look to the general public. San Diego is no different.
Each city I've lived in has had city councils which seemed to be largely made up of equal parts Three Stooges and Keystone Cops. The current council in San Diego is dealing with the largest fiscal crisis the city has ever faced (a deficit of $130 million). They seem to have no clue on how to solve this, while at the same time spending massive amounts of money on bullshit projects such as the conversion of the west end of G Street to be a one way street, something that was approved in 2007, but that they're just getting around to NOW.
But none of that matters, because in the middle of all of this, the city council of San Diego had the time to film a parody of the movie The Hangover for an upcoming business meeting. Council member Carl DeMaio--who just appeared on Fox 5 News this morning--proudly talked about the film and how it took a whole day to film. (Evidently taking a whole day away from city council business is okay in San Diego. Your tax dollars at work.) One of the scenes they showed was San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne tasering DeMaio in the testicles. Keep in mind that the San Diego Police Department has been rocked by scandals in the past few months, with at least 8 policemen up on charges that (separately) involve accusations of rape, stalking, drunk driving, and demanding sexual favors at traffic stops.
So it's great to have this video of the police chief tasering a city council member in the nuts. It's probably something all of us have wanted to do at some point. It also shows Chief Lansdowne doesn't have a clue as to how this looks to the public.
DeMaio himself said, "You have to be able to poke fun at yourself. It put things in perspective, and I think this video puts things in perspective." Yep, it sure does. The perspective I get from it is none of you belong in office, and in particular Mr. DeMaio shouldn't run for mayor, something he's obviously gearing up for. If I was running against you, I'd use the video of the police chief tasering you in all my ads.
My very own city council member, Kevin Faulconer said, "I had a lot of fun, but when you do these things you're always worried about it. You're like, 'Oh man, did I just do that?'"
Yes, councilman, you did. And we'll remember that you did.
Comments