After Skadron and Johnson eviscerated Marks with sneers and spite, Mayor Mick let go with a tirade that would have made Hillary Clinton cry, decrying his critics—advocates of transparency in government—of looking to institute “a permanent campaign” whose sole purpose was to bring Mayor Mick to his knees. Mick even said he may not be “smartest person in the room,” a rare admission of fallibility, but he was smart enough to believe that people in “radio” and “mockumentaries” were out to get him.

Real genius stuff.

As the only radio talk show host in the audience, I figured he meant me, which means that Mick makes the mistake of listening to my show. (Memo to Mayor: you’ve been Conned!) The mockumentarian in question was gadfly Andrew Kole, a particular object of the Mayor Mick’s wrath.

After his poor-me tirade, the Mayor of the City of Aspen decreed that the cameras could indeed be turned on, thereby missing the Mayoral tirade that should have been caught on camera. That’s just Mick’s way: “Process is our product,” he says—and nobody does process quite like Mick.

To his credit, Council Person Dwayne Romero—the signs on the table call them all “Council Person”—called Moe, Larry, and Curly to task and said the night was not the Council’s finest hour: he apologized for the behavior. Mayor Mick then made the mistake of interrupting Kole in conversation, and Kole was up to the task, reminding Hizzoner about all those failed pledges about the “new Mick,” a change from the comically rude politician on the public stage prior to this last campaign.

I was determined to keep my mouth shut but when renewing the combo affordable housing/daycare tax but I figured what the hell: I pay sales tax in this crazy town, so I already paid to have my say. The staff and the Council more or less agreed than unbundling the affordable housing from the daycare would endanger the measure, and I timidly suggested that the two be divided, so that actual voters decide. But that and the taping of the work session was far too much democracy for the Aspen City Council to tolerate, and my suggestion fell by the wayside without further debate.

One other point—and not a small one. The City’s staff put together an information sheet that included a “1 %” sales tax on the affordable housing/daycare combo platter. The only problem is that it’s not a one percent sales tax—it’s a .45 of one percent sales tax. Suffice to say the City staff that has flubbed so many numbers about affordable housing that you can’t keep up with them, got this basic number wrong as well.

After the monumental screw-ups to date, I left the spanky new Council chambers convinced that the no-account, no-accountable pols who run the city of Aspen will continue to run it into the ground. I may have no time for comedy, but tragedy gets me every time.