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ZZZZZZ: We've spent a rousing week of evenings waiting for something to actually happen at the county council budget hearings, so it was another "huh" moment when today's local newspaper story by you-know-who proclaimed that "(s)parks were flying Thursday morning between County Council members during a heated discussion at the Nawiliwili Council Chambers."

What a witty lede. There was only one problem with it- the article never mentioned the "sparks" perhaps because in actuality these budget hearings have alternated between snooze-fest and schmooze fest since the festivities began.

You'd think that with the all-cronies-all-the-time nature of the department heads appointed by Mayor Bernard Carvalho the level of incompetence at the top that's been reported to us by the county's "we-bes"- as in "we be here when you got here, we be here when you're gone"- might have been an issue for councilmembers, whose job is, after all, oversight of the administration.

Instead, after the department heads' usual perfunctory reading of their "prepared remarks" councilmembers lobbed a few softballs before heaping the praise on them reminiscent of the post-secret-handshake "you're great, no you're great" declaration from the Tom Hanks Saturday Night Live "Fiver Timer" sketch.

Most of the questions that have been asked are invariably of the "what the bleep did you do with the money" nature with "anykine" answers sufficing as appointees stumbled and bumbled their way through the sessions until they finally ran out the clock. That was followed by councilmembers declarations of "I especially liked the way you listed..." whatever it was they listed and an "I love you too" from the person in the not-so-hot seat.

Apparently, we have it all wrong. There's no incompetence at the top in administrative departments- our experiences are illusory. It's just coincidence- the mayor's campaign workers and big contributors just happen to be the most qualified people to lead these departments.

So glad we cleared that up. Go back to your homes folks- nothing to see here.