May I Demonstrate What is Truly PROBLEMATIC at City Hall?! (It Won't Be Brief!)

If there was one thing that Tom Depietro and I agreed on, it was this:  Margaret Morris repeats herself to the level of annoyance. And he called her out on it at least twice at meetings -- it drove him nuts, as it should have.  Morris' habit of repeating her thoughts, ideas and comments -- sometimes within the same sentence, sometimes within seconds or minutes, sometimes within weeks or months -- is bizarre, concerning and it makes it difficult to pay attention to what she has to say.  And now that she is the president of the Common Council, her repetitiveness really is on full display (but, of course, no one can criticize her for it).  Morris is a time waster and progress killer, and I'm starting to see the annoyance on the faces of council members, particularly Henry Haddad, when she speaks (especially when she goes on and on).  Morris is also a huge interrupter, as Depietro was.   That habit, too, is concerning and annoying.  And rude; it seems to go along with the job.

At the 41st minute of last month's meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee, Margaret Morris had something to say about an intersection that the committee had yet to discuss.  She was attending the meeting virtually, apparently as a member of the public (see Claire Cousin's comment at the end).  Her comments came after discussion about new traffic signs for three intersections, which did not include 7th & Columbia.

(To highlight Morris' repetitive tendencies and her and others' absurd statements, I've made them bold.  And keep in mind that having a virtual conversation is extremely difficult and probably should not be happening with regard to important matters, particularly if they involve the council president speaking to one of her committees.  It's a great way to get nothing done except waste time and energy and take a few steps backwards.  And annoy the crap out of people.  The lead picture is of Haddad trying to understand the direction of traffic at the intersection as Morris speaks about it.)

Prior to Morris' comments, committee chair Henry Haddad asked if anyone would like to comment or suggest anything about traffic signage.  Morris speaks up and Henry acknowledges her, allowing her to speak.

(Are you sitting down without anyone nearby to strangle?)

Morris:  No, nothing on the signage that you mention, but probably for another meeting, the intersection that you are talking about at 7th & Columbia.  Um, I think [long pause] that could probably benefit from being a four-way stop.  It is a very difficult intersection. 

[I'm not kidding when I say that the intersection of 7th & Columbia was not "talked about," not at that meeting or any previous meeting.  And why would she say, "probably for another meeting"?  What does that even mean?  How is that helpful?  What meeting was Morris referring to? "Probably"?  How probable?]

Henry Haddad tries to speak:  I think...

but Morris continues over him:  I think that requires having a traffic engineer look at it.  It's not a simple question. 

Haddad says a few words, but Morris speaks over him:  

So, when you're coming down Columbia and making the left turn onto 7th to go to Warren, ah, the cars coming up Columbia do not have a stop sign.  The cars coming on 7th to the right have a stop sign, and I don't believe there is a stop sign for the cars coming down Columbia to turn left onto 7th.  And that particular intersection to me is quite dangerous.  But I don't think, Henry, that it's a ...um ... I would prefer to get the opinion of a traffic engineer on that one.  But that intersection to me is like the Isaan Thai thing where you're coming down 7th, etcetera, you've already mentioned the NO ENTRY signs.  But that, to me, is a problematic intersection.

Henry Haddad:  I member some of that conversation with the proximity to the CSX tracks heading west...

Morris (interrupting):  No, no, that's on the other, that's on the other side, that's a different issue, that's on the other side.  I'm talking about when you're coming down Columbia... um, Columbia...

Haddad (interrupting):  Okay.  I see.  Gotcha.  Yeah.

Morris:  Right?  You're coming down Columbia.  Columbia does not have any stop signs.  Ah, you've got cars, you've got cars coming one way on Seventh, they do have a stop sign.  Ahm, you're trying to make a left on, you're trying to make a left onto 7th and you... it's, it's tricky.  I don't have a simple answer for that one, and I think we should probably get a professional opinion on what the appropriated signage would be at that intersection.  My, my, you know, non-professional opinion is that if that were a four way stop that might be a good thing.

Chief Franklin (not interrupting):  I believe the reason it's not a four-way stop is because of the CSX tracks right there by Lucky's.  So, if you're coming there, I think it's difficult where to locate that one stop sign.  If you do it after the tracks, then it could eventually back people back up on the tracks.  If you do it before, then people have to turn to make that weird turn from Speedway and then that would be a stop sign.  So, it's a little awkward there...

[What on earth does Speedway have to do with 7th & Columbia?  "Where to locate that one stop sign"???  Who is talking about one stop sign? There's only one intersection we're talking about here, Chief -- it's nowhere near Speedway and, according to the person you are responding to, it is missing two stop signs!]

Morris (interrupting):  Right.  Right. Yeah. No, I think there are reasons why it's not there, which is why I'm not saying that that's where it should be, because I'm not a traffic engineer.  But I do think that intersection is problematic.

Haddad:  Makes sense to me.  Thank you, Margaret.

Claire Cousin:  Can I propose that we hold the rest of public comments until after the department [a few words I can't understand] until the public comment section?

Haddad:  Yeah.

(Does all that read worse than any AI slop you can imagine?)

Morris' comments, repetitions, interruptions and back and forth with committee members and Chief Franklin finally ended at 44:30 of the meeting.  The council president, likely sitting at home, took three and a half minutes to get her point across that a traffic engineer might be a good idea to make one busy truck route intersection safer.  Of course, no one asked Morris where she thought the money for a traffic engineer was going to come from, how much it might cost city taxpayers, or if the city even has the available funds to do such a thing.  And, of course, no one bothered to ask her if 7th & Columbia is on mayor Ferris' list of his ten most dangerous intersections that need improving that he may or may not still be working on if he ever began!

The intersection of 7th & Columbia was not on the agenda for this month's meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee, nor was it discussed.  Margaret Morris' virtual voice could be heard again on Monday (she had a lot to say, of course), but she only spoke about chickens, e-scooters and another issue or two that had little or nothing to do with safety or the intersection of 7th & Columbia.  Or any intersection, for that matter!  She'd moved on, apparently.  She had her three and a half minutes on that issue, and everyone listened.  Everyone had to.

When I'm allowed to speak as a member of the public at a meeting of one of Margaret Morris' new committees, I'm typically reminded:  "Bill, you have two minutes." 

Here is what the council president could have said that would have been much more effective and to the point, not to mention brief, concise and succinct.  "What is it going to take to hire a traffic engineer to look into the unsafe intersection of 7th & Columbia to see how to make it safer?  Can we do this? If so, how and when can it happen?"  (What is that, like 6 seconds of talk?  35 words and no repetitions?)   Because, you know what?  If your idea can't be realized -- if the city can't afford to, or is otherwise unable to, act on your idea -- please stop talking so much and offering too many details, too many of them repeated ad nauseum!  Find out if your idea is viable first, okay?  We have work to do here; members are falling asleep and looking annoyed.  Thank you.