Decision to Rescind, part 3.

Inauguration

In part 1, I explained that I expected my decision to consider a rescission would draw criticism from a portion of the public. In part 2, I explained that I thought that it was necessary to hold off until the day before to add the agenda item in order to preserve the Council's ability to rescind. I saw the problems caused by the short notice once we had added the agenda item, but before hand I didn't think that it would be controversial, separate from the rescission consideration. What I certainly didn't think would be controversial was the pre-ceremonial swearing-in.

The facts:
1. The item could have been added to the agenda two different ways without the newly-elected Councilors being sworn in early.
2. Moving the swearing-in before the work session was discussed two-years ago and was being researched by the Council Attorney independently from the question of rescission, indeed, before rescission was a known option.
3. Swearing-in at noon Monday most closely followed the pertinent State statues.

As everything came together, being able to sign the letter -- that instructed the item to be added to the agenda -- was an added motivation for me. I felt that having my signature on the letter helped show my support for the move and was a public statement of my position (you know, transparency). So yes, I considered the letter when I requested to be sworn in early, but my signature was not necessary for the agenda item to be added, and I would have made the same request to be sworn in early absent this rescission issue. I expected criticism for my name being on the letter, but not for being sworn in early.

The idea of a technical swearing-in before a ceremonial swearing-in did not seem foreign to me. It seems to me that every few years I read a sentence about something like this in a larger article about an inauguration. Does this sound familiar to anyone else, or am I mistaken? Wasn't there a small off-beat news story about a couple years back about a swearing-in that had to be repeated in private because the person officiating got the words wrong? I did a quick search of the Herald from last year and found this. I'm not quite sure what it is, based on the caption, but ceremonial reenactments aren't unheard of. How many of you graduated from college? Did you attend commencement or convocation exercises? Were your parents in the stands, proudly taking pictures of the occasion? Did you walk across the stage, shake hands with the dignitaries, and receive a beautiful diploma cover? What was inside? In mine was a paper stating that the actual diploma would be mailed to me in six to eight weeks once everything was recorded and it was verified that I had indeed met the requirements for graduation. Did this make the ceremony a sham? Or was it a great opportunity for friends and families to gather to celebrate the occasion? So no, I didn't feel uncomfortable about being sworn in before the inauguration ceremony. I didn't think it would be controversial. I didn't think it would detract from the inauguration. Looking back, I do think it tainted the ceremony a little, but that was because of the reaction, not the action. Don't get me wrong, the reaction was understandable, but I think it was mistaken. I take responsibility for not communicating better, both before and after, about the reasons for the pre-ceremonial swearing-in.

In the interest of full disclosure, the technical swearing-in was botched worse than most people know. I knew that I would be sworn in by the City Recorder at noon on Monday, so I arrived at her office a few minutes early. One other Councilor-Elect was already there. We were told that Kay Van Buren had chosen to be sworn in before the Work Session the next day so we were waiting on two others. One joined shortly thereafter. The Recorder said something about doing the swearing-in upstairs (in the Council Office), but that we might as well do it in her office since that was where we were at. Nobody objected; I didn't think twice about it. She said that she'd go see if she could find the last person and came back with him a couple minutes later. We were all sworn in simultaneously, signed the certificates, and headed upstairs to the Council Office where a Policy Lunch was underway. As we entered the office we were met by the entire Council Staff and Mayor who had gathered to watch us being sworn in. I was sorry to see the disappointment in their eyes. I hadn't thought about them wanting to be present. The big ceremony was still a day away. I chalk this all up to miscommunication. It wasn't any body's fault, but it was one more unfortunate wrinkle in a fairly unfortunate couple of days.