It'll be a cold day in hell...

As promised, Spa City's mayor rolled out her "be kind" initiative during Tuesday's city council meeting. And as anticipated, she was met with groans from two out of four commissioners, who recognized the hollow promise for what it is: a superfluous pledge that's more of a waste of time than anything.

Governing the civility of government officials is more or less a fruitless pursuit that's best left up to Roberts Rules of Order and a meeting chair with an ounce if control, rather than of idle resolutions aimed in a round-about way at publicly humiliating the most egregious violators. For those in the know, there's little doubt that Public Works Commissioner Tom McTygue was the member of council who prompted Valerie Keehn to craft the pledge.

Also of little surprise was the fact that he refused to sign it, in essence making a public spectacle of something few among the voting public would place high on the priority list of local government. Truth is, government in all of its incarnations, is an ugly beast; its pawns are no different then a pack of wailing hyenas caged together at long prattling meetings.

Politicians, especially on the local level, are nothing more than a group of oversized school children kicking sand at each other on the playground of municipal government. Civility among politicians, if any exists at all, is forged through a series of furtive backroom deals, done out of the public eye as to mask the sinister nature of the aforementioned beast.

Keehn's pledge simply gussies up this beast up; festoon its mangy hair with colorful ribbons, file down the crusted claws and give the oily complexion a quick makeover. But the mayor forgets this isn't Queer Eye, and no degree of makeoverwill ever sap the vile nature from politics.

Meanwhile, more empty storefronts pop up on Broadway, while all around posh condos grow high in the sky. Every minute, diversity slips a bit further into the citywide policies that promulgate omnipresent gentrification. And in the city council, the mayor is taking backwards potshots at the commissioner she's butted heads with from the get-go. Smile for the cameras mayor, tell them this empty pledge will do an ounce of good.

Who knows. The temperature continues to hover around zero out there and if it drops a few degrees centigrade, maybe ol' McTygue will fire up his pen and sign the pledge.