Meet the New Boss Same as the Old Boss

The Dallas Morning News reported that mayoral candidate "[Bob] Dubey said [Mayor Paul] Voelker’s “micromanagement from the top down” has deterred some council members and residents from speaking at council meetings."

Candidate Dubey won. It's Mayor Dubey now. Monday night the public got its first chance to see how the new regime is changing how council meetings are run, presumably opening them up, encouraging more open deliberations by council members. I'm here to report that from my perch in the cheap seats at the back of the house, the new boss looks a lot like the old boss.

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Item 5 on the agenda was "ELECTION OF THE MAYOR PRO TEM FOR THE 2023-2025 CITY COUNCIL." Here is how it went down. After a two hour executive session (suggesting there was a lot said in private), back in open session the mayor said, "At this time I would like to entertain a motion for the election of Mayor Pro Tem for the 2023-2025 City Council." Joe Corcoran dutifully obliged, nominating Arefin Shamsul as Mayor Pro Tem, without justifying his motion. Dan Barrios dutifully seconded the motion, again without any justification. Mayor Dubey immediately asked for, not debate on the motion, but a "show of hands" which resulted in passage of the motion 6-1. The entire process lasted exactly one minute and one second.

None of the Council members who voted for Arefin explained why they thought Arefin is the man for the job. The public has no idea what traits Arefin has that the others value in a Mayor Pro Tem. They didn't offer even a single good word about their pick. Arefin deserved at least that much to dissuade any conspiracy thinking out there that this might have been just another horse-trading deal decided in secret in a smoke-filled room. If it's possible to receive such an honor and still look crooked doing it, this is the way to do it.

You'd think that maybe the lone "no" vote, Curtis Dorian (congrats to him for showing independence in his first vote), might have been given a chance to explain his vote. But no. The new mayor didn't ask for deliberation on the motion. He moved through his script at a speed rapid enough that one might be excused for thinking that it "deterred some council members from speaking at a council meeting."

So, pardon me if I just...

"...tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again"

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Full lyrics:

Won't Get Fooled Again

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

A change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again, no, no

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half-alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie

Do you?

Yeah

There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are effaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again, no, no

Yeah
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

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Pete Townshend, The Who

Source: AZLyrics.