Hot as hell out there, not much better to do than watch a replay of the Tuesday’s Greensboro City Council meeting.

It just so happened that GTA’s request to match federal funds for improvement to the bus system was on the floor when I turned on the tube. Dr. Gaurino reported council member Dianne Bellamy-Small’s rude treatment of a citizen who dared questioned public transportation funding, and I wondered why the conservative council didn’t come to his rescue.

After watching again I noted that Mayor Bill Knight asked that transportation staff look into purchasing smaller buses for lighter routes in order to improve efficiency. Seems like a reasonable enough request.

GTA public transportation planner Libby James response was mote interesting. After stating that she would “try to respond in a simple manner” — as if the mayor were an idiot or something — she explained that the expense in running a route wasn’t tied so much to the size of the bus, but to the salary of the union driver operating the bus.

That sounds backwards to me, never the mind the fact that James seemed taken aback that the mayor—- heaven forbid —-would question public transportation funding.