Tuesday’s city council meeting marked over a month since the last city council meeting June 16. That results in a lot of built-up words council members needed to release into the atmosphere by bloviating, and they did, over five hours using the Zoom platform.
Zoom is a fun toy to use, it’s like a box of chocolates, ‘you never know what you’re going to get’. Inevitably there are always surprises with technical issues. That’s part of what makes Zoom fun for the viewers, but not necessarily for the participants. Zoom definitely makes it easier to see individual council members and notice whatever goofy things are occurring, so for pure entertainment Zoom is the way to go.
Most council members have tried using different backgrounds, some with success, some with not, and some don’t seem to care. A few have tried different camera angles. Some of those who really need to change the angles or distance, including Paul Hinterlong Judy Brodhead, John Krummen, and Kevin Coyne seem oblivious to the opportunity. It’s also possible that they are so secure with themselves and confident, that they just don’t care.
The two council members who seem to have navigated good looks are mayor Steve Chirico and councilwoman Theresa Sullivan. Chirico has the advantage of good lighting in his office and keeping the flag in full view. Sullivan nailed the look right from the beginning and continues to use it better than any council member.
Council meetings have been void of any kids crying in the background, nobody walking in view of the camera, no pizza sauce dripping on shirt, and no obscenities being mumbled in the background. However there was a moment when a council member either stepped on a duck, or their doorbell is quite an attention grabber. It happened while councilwoman Judy Brodhead was bloviating. Watch and more importantly listen for the moment:
It could have been the doorbell, but unlikely after 10PM at night. That leaves ‘stepping on a duck’ being most likely. The question is who did it? The likely culprits would be Brodhead since she was the one talking, or it could have been the mayor since his office is near to the DuPage river where ducks roam freely. The least likely would be Sullivan, however since she is the least likely, it would give her the best cover.
Bottom line, is that only one person knows, which means we will never know for sure. I wonder if Menard’s sells a doorbell with that ring tone.
