Et tu, Brute?
While everybody’s attention was on the village entrance, a funny thing happened in the ways of the forum. Norm Grossman was shown the village exit. Norm must have been caught by surprise. He’s been on the Planning Commission for 26 years. That’s a long run. That’s longer than the Chicago Daley dynasty. He’s advised the Laguna city council on projects large and small. Obviously, the village exit project caught him unaware. Imagine his surprise when he was shown the exit door. Et tu, Brute?
I suppose it could have been worse. There wasn’t any tar and feathers. The vote happened on a weekday, so Norm couldn’t be shipped off on a one-way trolley ride that’s city funded for weekends only. But I still feel bad for Norm. Unbeknownst to him, we share a final professional chapter. My own business is coming to an unceremonious end after 24 years. I for one had hoped for a more upbeat send off. I envisioned a retirement dinner surrounded by grateful employees wishing me the best. Perhaps they would chip in with a farewell gift relating to my favorite hobby. I can hear the toast now. “To the best boss ever. This gift certificate supplies you with a lifetime supply of Lagunitas IPAs. Long live, Crantz. And his liver, too.”
That ending isn’t going to happen for me. There’s nobody left to throw me a party or provide bona fides attesting to my good leadership and character. I hope Norm fares better. I’ve only been in town for a few years, but from what I’ve heard and read, Laguna seems to be an improved community compared to 1989, or the year that Norm started his civic mindedness.
Public service is a tough business. As the poet Lydgate proffered, “You can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time, with the exception of Crantz, who pleased no one all of the time.” I added that last part because Lydgate died in 1451, a year before I was born. However, I like my addition and think Lydgate would agree that it’s a perfect epitaph for me. But then again, there’s no way my heirs will pay for a headstone large enough to cover all that writing. I can hear them now. “Grandpa, get with the times. Just tweet. That’s 140 characters and call it a lifetime.”
Unlike me, it seems that Norm had great patience and took the time to bring divergent views together and to move Laguna forward to a better place for most of the people, for most of the time. I salute your long stewardship and hoist my next Lagunitas IPA to you, a toast that I have to pay for because I have no staff left to pay for it for me.
Mark splits his time between California and Michigan, but is always in the state of confusion and befuddlement. His wife told us so.
