Transparency: "The Room Where It Happens"

Part 2 of 3.

Source: Hamilton: An American Musical.

No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in the room where it happens.

Source: Hamilton.

Yesterday, in Part 1, I congratulated Mayor Amir Omar on trying to add transparency to the council's decisions. And I applauded Jennifer Justice and Joe Corcoran for joining him in voting against moving the decision-making process into secret. And I didn't applaud Hutchenrider, Barrios, Dorian, and Arefin who all voted to continue excluding the public from witnessing the council conduct this important business.

Today, I'll examine the council's reasoning behind their decision to keep their deliberation secret.

Transparency: "The Room Where It Happens"

Source: Hamilton: An American Musical.

No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in the room where it happens.

Source: Hamilton.

Amir Omar, when campaigning to become mayor of Richardson, wrote, "As Mayor, I envision propelling our city to regional leadership in transparency." Well, Amir Omar became mayor and on Monday night, while presiding over his first City Council meeting, Mayor Amir Omar began delivering on his promise. It came during the selection of the Mayor Pro Tem.

Wilding (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wilding (2023): Dramatization of a real story of an English couple who decide to rewild their failing 3,500 acre estate. It's always a work in progress, but they seem to be making progress, although the movie fails to address the economics of the plan. Inspiring if not compelling moviemaking. B-

#VeryTardyReview

Korean Airlines

Charter Review: "We the People"

Artist: John Trumbull.

On May 15, 2025, the Richardson Charter Review Commission completed their review of the Richardson City Charter. Well, almost completed. They still need to come back and review the final drafts of the amendments and formally vote on what they'll submit to the City Council.

After 10 meetings and I don't know how many suggested amendments (we won't know for sure what the number is until the City Attorney packages them up in way to submit to the City Council), the commission finally added one substantive amendment that I consider to be primarily in the public interest, not the commissioners' own interest, not the city council's interest, but in the people's interest. Read all the way to the end to see what it is.

POTD: Garmo Stave Church

"Timbers soaked with time,
Withstand a thousand winters.
Strong the stave and stone."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 07 Lillehammer

Today's photo-of-the-day shows the Garmo Stave Church in the Maihaugen outdoor museum in Lillehammer, Norway. It "originally came from the village of Garmo in Lom. It was built circa 1150 on the site of a previous church believed to have been built in 1021 by a Viking chieftain. In 1730, it was expanded into a timber cruciform church...It was dissembled and brought to Lillehammer in sections. It was re-erected at Maihaugen in 1920—1921."