The landed class made a small showing to protest. But to protest what, really? Having to go through an administrative process, which includes a not-insubstantial fee, to regulate your unlicensed hotel? To be able to buy permission to take homes away from local families for the sake of profit? Luckily, the council seems pretty united on pushing this ordinance forward — a rare and welcomed moment of solidarity. This one is truly a political no-brainer; the average Westerly citizen does not own multiple properties, much less for the purposes of short-term rentals.

It’s something I’ve been thinking about all week: how the commodification of the housing market has gotten completely out of control, and how readily property owners show up to make themselves heard at even the slightest bit of friction between them and their “earnings.”

Councilor Healy requested a presentation from the town manager and the chief of police on how the WPD will interact with the Gestapo ICE if they roll into town to disappear some of our neighbors. In what ways are they expected to cooperate? How much information will local police have to provide? Given recent events, these seem like perfectly reasonable questions to ask.

There was also a strange exchange between Councilors Healy and Van Dover. Earlier in the meeting, Councilor Van Dover made a comment about being uncomfortable with the policing involved with a particular issue. Councilor Healy understandably thought she was referring to law enforcement, so she mentioned this remark when making the presentation request. Councilor Van Dover spoke up to clarify: she meant policing in language or tone (I think?), not law enforcement — which, of course, she fully supports — and that she doesn’t want “the government” in our “bedrooms” and “underwear drawers.”

First of all, why are conservatives so eager to lick the boot? Who are you trying to impress with how docile and obedient you are?

Second, who do you think enforces the laws that “the government” makes? Who do you think is going to go through your bedroom and underwear drawer? Like, for real: when you imagine a government intrusion upon your person, family, property, whatever, who do you imagine is doing it? I’ll give you a hint: the aforementioned boot.

Committee members passed an update to the school budget proposal. Why did I think that the budget was already approved? Is the update an amendment to the existing, already-approved budget? Just being transparent here: I don’t understand.

They also approved a field trip to Universal in Orlando for the WHS softball team. I guess the school committee has to weigh in when a trip involves multiple nights out of state. The coach mentioned that all the kids get to go on the trip no matter their family’s ability to pay, which is really nice.

On the agenda was also “Police Detail for School Committee Meetings,” but they postponed discussion until the next meeting because two committee members were absent that day, and they wanted all members present.

Boo! I have so many questions. What happened? Which member put this on the agenda? Why now?