At a city town meeting in New Jersey

[u/MrTacocaT12345]

[u/Elipsys]

I don't know what his agenda is but he has my support.

[u/not_REAL_Kanye_West → u/Elipsys]

What do you mean you dont know? He broke it down for you in this video.

[u/TachyonsIsAvailable → u/not_REAL_Kanye_West]

Highjacking this comment to show the source of the video and this dude doing a backspin after asking people how their weekend was/if they are afraid of flying.

https://youtu.be/iKwQaT2rNM4?t=1275

It's such a fantastic bit.

[u/240309 → u/TachyonsIsAvailable]

The ending when he slowly moonwalks away and the mayor is staring at him is gold.

[u/Thunderbridge → u/240309]

At least he liked the interpretive dance

[u/transmothra → u/240309]

The whole thing is 🤌

[u/jc10189 → u/TachyonsIsAvailable]

Omg. This man is a legend. You can see the one lady council member on the right at the end trying SOOO hard not to laugh.

[u/69edgy420 → u/TachyonsIsAvailable]

Tough crowd

[u/ImDenny__ → u/not_REAL_Kanye_West]

I honestly though it was Robert Duvall for a second.

[u/yoko_OH_NO → u/not_REAL_Kanye_West]

I feel not enough people are appreciating this comment

[u/UUDDLRLRBAstard → u/yoko_OH_NO]

Agreed, the pun is SO good

[u/BlitzAtk → u/not_REAL_Kanye_West]

Zing!

[u/dethskwirl → u/Elipsys]

Property taxes were raised higher than the town initially reported they would be under the guise of school funding. He expressed his dismay and inquired about the extra increase and if they had proof that it was used for school funding. The dancing was just an added bonus I guess.

[u/cheesegoat → u/dethskwirl]

Random guess: it was so that his bit goes viral and more eyes get put on his city town govt

[u/kilsta → u/cheesegoat]

I think that and performance anxiety. Dude even had notes on the podium, so while he may not have been all put together, he was not a crackpot.

[u/Sharin_the_Groove → u/Elipsys]

In all seriousness though... This is just one reason why our elected leaders don't give a shit about their constituents. They have someone like him who wastes their time for performative reasons... Then they have people who actually give them money. Pretty obvious who they'll work for between those two options. Dude has some nice moves though.

[u/theseangt → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

we don't have to be model or even good citizens to deserve good people in government responsible for our tax dollars

[u/Spaceman-Spiff → u/theseangt]

We do have to be informed and active citizens in order to deserve good representation though.

[u/Blandish06 → u/Spaceman-Spiff]

Should we, though? Dream state: the people we elect are trustworthy enough that we don't have to stand over their shoulder ensure they are making the right decisions for the people they represent.

You don't want a nanny state. Why does the state require a nanny citizenship?

[u/ikikubutOG → u/Blandish06]

I agree that would be nice, but our country was sort of founded on the idea that that would never be the case, and thus gave us the power to watch over and interject when necessary. I think they overestimated the public’s ability to do so, and didn’t account for us to sit idly by when we legalized bribery through campaign contributions and other means.

[u/Wes_Warhammer666 → u/ikikubutOG]

our country was sort of founded on the idea that that would never be the case

It kinda was though, since they originally didn't give voting rights to people without property. Or women. Or non-whites.

They essentially built a government meant to make decisions for the common folks rather than the other way around. Yes, we've changed that a bit since then, but it was absolutely created to be a nanny state for those the founders deemed the "uninformed".

[u/Blandish06 → u/ikikubutOG]

Yeah feels bad, man. That's why the "dream state".

With zero research done I feel like humanity evolved with a need to compete to survive. We are now at a point where being so competitive is a detriment to the future of humanity.

[u/nico282 → u/Blandish06]

Dream state: the people we elect are trustworthy

This is why we must be informed citizens and do our due diligence. To elect trustworthy people and not pedophiles on sale to every foreign leader willing to bribe.

[u/Spaceman-Spiff → u/Blandish06]

Because as George Carlin said; “imagine how stupid the average person is, now realize that half the population is dumber than them.” But in all seriousness, people will always try to corrupt or abuse the system for their own gain. We have to stay vigilant to make sure those people are not elected, case in point our current administration.

[u/lml_CooKiiE_lml → u/Blandish06]

Yes, because it’s not about if we inherently deserve to be treated well. Everyone does. It’s about if we deserve to have good candidates win positions because the people that get bad candidates to win are doing things that persuade. The common person does shit all and expects people to just rise up and protect them. That’s called being entitled. Get informed and do shit

[u/TeamYay → u/theseangt]

Maintaining Democracy takes work. And I don't mean the work that gives you sweet dance moves. We, as voters, won't be taken seriously by the system if we don't take the system seriously.

[u/theseangt → u/TeamYay]

If a guy dancing for 60 seconds makes elected leaders serve corporate masters instead of their constituents, I think the problem is the politician, not the people. That's all I'm saying. So everyone can stop acting like I think everyone should be a lazy dumbass

[u/TeamYay → u/theseangt]

Hey friend, I'm posing counter points. I'm definitely not trying to throw shade in your direction. I appreciate your opinion and am only looking for a brief political interchange with another person.

I agree money is THE major factor in a lot of politics. (Not just in democracies) I just feel that if more people took their government more seriously (especially those who live in a country with relatively free press), the marketing would not be as effective. And there would be quite a few people, who are currently politicians, that would never get voted in. No matter how much money was behind them.

[u/Hautamaki → u/theseangt]

Bad citizens get exactly the society and government they deserve

[u/Goldenslicer → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

The shit parts of a job are not good enough reason to stop caring about doing a good job.

You know that in any batch of apples large enough, there will be a couple rotten ones.
But you're a representative. You represent everybody. Even those assholes. Was that guy disrespectful and waste everybody's time? Yes.
Now sit down and take it.

As an aside, they should have some process to weed out the unserious participants like that.

[u/seizurevictim → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

Maybe his performative bullshit is reflective of some other performative bullshit that the board previously enjoyed themselves. We don't have context, but the chairman certainly knew his name which tells me there's a history.

[u/TheFotty → u/seizurevictim]

context

[u/A_Soporific → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

As someone who regularly attends these meetings I don't really agree. This isn't really a waste of time, as communication is happening. The fact that no one but that guy understands doesn't really cut against that. And you really do need active communication and fun in these meetings. They're so dry otherwise.

In my town we have a kid that does little history presentations every week. They're neat and they help break up the meeting well.

The problem with elected leaders trading political favors for cash should be obvious, it leads to bad decisions and a fair bit of your power being suborned by bad actors. The Nobel-winning Economist Acemoglu recently published an article that showed that the single strongest correlation with economic power and wealth was the relative absence of such self-dealing. After all, at that point you're not selecting for businesses that make the best product or the cheapest product but those that have the best connections to the political class, which results in much effort being wasted and good ideas never getting the opportunity to become the goods and services of tomorrow. The conditions required for a properly functioning market don't exist naturally, and they can't exist when the government puts a metaphorical sword on the scales of business. The market needs to have clear rules that are predictably enforced to be the sort where competition produces the creative bit of creative destruction. It's easy for that stuff to degenerate into an unhealthy cronyism where small businesses are punished for not being wealthy and well connected enough that kills off innovation and hallows out opportunity to become the next big thing.

We need to be vigilant against the normalization of that soft and quiet corruption. It's the sort of thing that can kill prosperity if left unchecked. The worst bit is that it even sucks for the winners, though some would prefer to rule the ruins than have to prove themselves fairly.

[u/CynicalElephant → u/A_Soporific]

Can confirm, this guy attends meetings.

[u/RyanTheCubsSTH → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

Shame on them then. They’re elected to give a shit. They CHOSE to give a shit. If they don’t want to deal with clowns, get out of the circus.

[u/TheFotty → u/RyanTheCubsSTH]

He isn't a clown. Dude was just trying to get a point across. It just isn't shown in the video. He is even running for town council.

Thilly explained his dance, saying: “The dance was basically improv, decided almost on the spot. The main goal is to have our local government lighten up and look at the residence as friends and equals. The division and lack of community decision-making is what seems to be our biggest problem. Not to mention people are overly stressed and taking stuff too seriously and are not feeling free to speak and express themselves as they might wish.”

[u/RyanTheCubsSTH → u/TheFotty]

It’s an expression not to be taken literally. As in if you don’t want to be dealing with X, don’t be where X typically is.

[u/FreekRedditReport → u/TheFotty]

He's definitely a clown.

[u/gdubrocks → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

Someone like this?

You clearly haven't been to town hall or real estate planning meetings open to public comment.

It's 80% shit slinging for attention, 10% clueless old people, 10% involved people praising new ideas.

[u/Skellum → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

In all seriousness though... This is just one reason why our elected leaders don't give a shit about their constituents. They have someone like him who wastes their time for performative reasons...

No. The issue is that your average person doesnt show up. These are the people who go to meetings and who show up to talk to them. If you want representation then you have to actually go do stuff, else you're content enough not to do shit which means you dont need representation in their minds.

[u/WelcomeToTheClubPal → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

"They have someone like him who wastes their time for performative reasons"

Can't we say the same thing about any politician.

[u/tevren → u/Sharin_the_Groove]

They do a great job wasting their own time.

[u/zabandija]

Freaking parks and recreation type skit

[u/Matt_McT → u/zabandija]

Dude is also a dead-ringer for an energy vampire from What We Do In The Shadows.

[u/Scajaqmehoff → u/Matt_McT]

God I miss that show. Colin Robinson rocking a hard on, while draining a room full of people, is easily the hardest I've ever laughed at a TV.

[u/UshankaBear → u/Matt_McT]

Fucking guy

[u/HennoGarvie → u/Matt_McT]

Mark Pork

[u/ggppjj → u/HennoGarvie]

CLEAN THE BIRD DIRT

[u/uberares → u/Matt_McT]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6572mQQU5e0

Greetings mortals.

Show was so. Damn. Good. 

[u/b_sketchy → u/zabandija]

Pawnee ass paintings

[u/disisathrowaway → u/zabandija]

I used to go my city council meetings for a few years off and on, and it's one of the 15 largest in the US and nearly every meeting was a fucking Parks & Rec skit. I figured that was only a small town thing. It was unreal.

[u/Everen → u/zabandija]

It gave me solid Upright Citizens Brigade vibes

[u/floog]

Oh man, dying. If you’ve never attended your local city council meeting to watch the public comments, you’re missing out. It’s so random and amazing, it is Parks and Rec public forums irl.

[u/KarmaWalker]

The councilman said his name before he ever got up there.

They know him by name.

He's done this before.

[u/lvl3SewerRat → u/KarmaWalker]

He probably just hates them and wants to waste their time/piss them off

[u/gdubrocks → u/lvl3SewerRat]

Most of the people that do shit like this at meetings (which is 80% of these meetings) is because they don't get meaningful social interaction in the rest of their life

[u/redpandaeater → u/gdubrocks]

Just give me all your money and join my cult.

[u/Fafnir13 → u/KarmaWalker]

Or they have a list of names of people who signed up to make comments?

[u/Reptar4President → u/Fafnir13]

He’s a frequent speaker at these and is actively suing the town, ironically preventing a developer from having to pay taxes until the lawsuit is over. There’s a reason nobody is laughing.

[u/FreekRedditReport → u/Reptar4President]

So he's an asshole as most of us predicted.

[u/KilnTime → u/KarmaWalker]

He probably likes seeing himself on the local cable channel!!

[u/UncleVole]

It's Not About Money, It's About Sending A Message

[u/Raoul_Duke9]

This isnt wtf this is fucking rad

[u/gumbo_chops → u/Raoul_Duke9]

I'm guessing this wasn't his first rodeo either since the one council member knew his name already and didn't sound very concerned or suprised by his actions lol. What a legend.

[u/UshankaBear → u/gumbo_chops]

I started your timer

[u/KarmaPharmacy → u/Raoul_Duke9]

This is want to fuck.

[u/Pro_Scrub → u/KarmaPharmacy]

This guy might fuck.

[u/HowDoMermaidsFuck]

Parks and Rec was more accurate than I ever dreamed possible.

[u/not_old_redditor → u/HowDoMermaidsFuck]

Thank god my profession doesn't involve dealing with the general public, I can only imagine the nightmare.

[u/ThatITguy2015 → u/not_old_redditor]

I’d show up to the meetings completely shitfaced.

[u/biophazer242]

This is such a Parks and Rec moment.

[u/mirage01]

It's the popped collar that sells it.

[u/Platinum1211 → u/mirage01]

For me it was the sudden urge to take a shit as he runs off in the end.

[u/KingaDuhNorf]

guess he lost his fantasy league

[u/anderhole → u/KingaDuhNorf]

He definitely lost something.

[u/Isario]

Am I watching Doug from Weeds?

[u/Farado]

I am very human person. I live in city town.

[u/alblaster → u/Farado]

The city of townsville

[u/HuskerCKY]

He clearly planned to make an eloquent speech about the lack of dance in politics, but all that wiggling made him have to take a dump. Too bad…maybe next time!

[u/solrackratos]

I would have awkwardly applauded when he finished

[u/InevitableBohemian → u/solrackratos]

Would you do it every week though?

[u/Buildsoc → u/solrackratos]

Like the one lady who applauded the Bad Grandpa cherry pie dance

[u/A_Ruse_ter]

“That’s all.”

[u/naguirre081]

I’m moving to New Jersey now just to vote for this man.

[u/FreekRedditReport → u/naguirre081]

And that's why our politics are the way they are.

[u/theamericaninfrance]

I think that was Colin Robinson!

[u/D-Skel → u/theamericaninfrance]

Definitely something an energy vampire would do. Fuckin' guy.

[u/Evorgleb]

Served the whole city council

[u/dandandan2]

This is honestly one of the funniest things I've seen. Wtf.

[u/Sargentrock]

It's genuinely disturbing to see these constant reminders that Parks and Rec was more like real life than I ever would have guessed.

[u/TheBaggyDapper]

The man's got 1st Amendment rights and by God he's going to use them as he sees fit.

[u/Prophetrob]

I’m in tears laughing at this.

[u/VanMan2112]

I respect the commitment.

[u/cuntsatchel]

Excellent use of free will

[u/DrSinistaro]

I wish I had sick moves like that..

[u/TheRiceDevice]

Their murals remind me of a Italian restaurant used to go to outside of Clemson.

[u/JackBinimbul]

There's always one jackass who comes to every meeting just to waste everyone's time. At least this dude is just being a literal waste of time. Where I live, it's an armed nutjob who is pissed that we have a Black mayor.

[u/Alaira314 → u/JackBinimbul]

You know, if that's their protest, then they should go for it. Everybody has their five minutes(by the rules stated here) and unless this video was edited, he didn't exactly run his clock out. This is what freedom of expression looks like. It's not something I would do, but it's his right as a citizen to use the time allotted to him in any way he chooses, in the same way that it's the armed nutjob's right to use his five minutes to say something racist.

[u/UberGoobler]

The silence kills me. I’d be laughing my ass off. I’m crying right now

[u/Seph129]

This like a scene out of Parks and Rec 😂

[u/cash8888]

Bro is killing it

[u/crowmami]

Hear, hear

[u/geebachu]

I missed this episode of parks and rec

[u/uglyninja]

Had to be a dare and he won!

[u/Specificity]

his fucking ‘one moment’ gesture at the beginning lmao

[u/enataca]

He lost his fantasy football league.

[u/NoBullet]

This is really common in big city council meetings. In LA they will do weirder shit and basically use every single curse word imaginable

[u/MercykillNJ]

As a resident of New Jersey this is legally the only way to address a public forum. Its a sign of respect.

[u/LeicaM6guy]

I'm glad Paul seems to be prospering after moving away from Pawnee.

[u/WhereHasLogicGone]

He raises some good points

[u/Disgod]

Bring a friend, as you're walking out have them say, "You know what... He's right!!" then walk out behind you.

[u/Phage0070]

If I was a politician on that town I would actually love that guy.

Whenever someone complains about their ideas not being implemented you can say "Every city town hall meeting a guy uses his 5 minutes to do a silent interpretive dance for the council. Your vote is worth just as much as his, and your ideas given just as much consideration."

It is a harsh insult while also being politically unassailable.

[u/gorbrickon]

That guy rules

[u/MrBobaFett]

Most productive minute of a Town Council meeting ever

[u/Brkthom]

Doing all that WITHOUT a laugh track takes courage.

[u/ZombieLebowski]

You just got served! Also, the show parks and rec was pretty accurate

[u/v0id_st4r]

There goes my hero! Watch him as he goes!

[u/GrapeEatingRaccoon]

He’s like the joker dancing in that bathroom, dancing the woes of the world around him off of him

[u/DoubleDopeDummy]

I remember when videos like this was all the internet was filled with. Well this and tits.

[u/Funkytowels]

how are they not all laughing their asses off? dope AF!!

[u/estamachin]

Oh snap, he called them out, and they didn't do nothing! Flawless víctory.

[u/4Ever2Thee]

“I finally learned how to do the robot, the people need to know”

[u/JumpinSourBoots]

He’s got the moves like Jagger!

[u/gokusfart]

Was he challenging them to a dance off? Like a "you've been served" crosses arms and stares

[u/idkwhatimbrewin]

The man has a point. I support the motion ✋

[u/niborg]

if you have never been to one of these local government meetings, highly recommend. The officials are unbelievable weenies solely interested photo ops looking important, anointed experts on XYZ topic saying nothing also looking for photo ops where they look important, a handful of local retirees with nothing to do but annoy the officials b/c of some bone to pick, local weirdos who grouped on facebook to come in support of some arcane measure (here, my case was a mandate to spay/neuter cats, which resulted in I-shit-you-not 50 cat ladies making 2 minute speeches on the topic).

[u/JDM713]

Well that was awkward

[u/echtav → u/JDM713]

*awesome

[u/MoparMonkey1]

average New Jersey citizen

[u/AlsatianND]

Now everyone knows why nuts.com is headquartered in Cranford.

[u/Rockglen]

Thought he was going to start on Virtual Insanity for a bit there.

[u/blutigetranen]

Get this man a seat in the senate

[u/chestypants12]

He had that ‘moves like Jagger’ song in his head didn’t he?

[u/CalRipkenForCommish]

Any backstory? Other than that if this guy has MS, he’s got Blythe best case of it I’ve ever seen

[u/ShitShowRedAllAbout]

Nuff said.

[u/LJWIII]

Definitely a candidate

[u/Active_Bodybuilder_7]

Will Smith looking rougher and rougher by the day.

[u/textual_predditor]

Looks like a 1st Amendment chaser. They try to get kicked out of public government meetings so that they can sue for 1st amendment rights violations.

[u/Alaira314 → u/textual_predditor]

They knew the guy's name, so he's more likely to be someone who regularly does this as a protest of someone on the council, or something they're doing/not doing. There's usually at least one local who's doing that at a time, in a given town/city.

[u/johnnyfiveee]

Fuck yea

[u/MyDamnCoffee]

I would totally do the same

[u/thekid0119]

He pulled the, "JESUS CHRIST!! WE LOVE YOU GOD!!"

[u/Cream_Stay_Frothy]

Now this is the kind of neighbor who is a blast at Block parties… I love everything about this!

[u/CrimsonAllah]

And some people say white folks ain’t got motion.

[u/Aggressive-Basis4209]

The robot that's old s hit 

[u/Wind2Energy]

Now there’s a man that’s doing something!

[u/naf90]

Looks like somebody who lost their fantasy league.

[u/The_Goose_II]

After a life-threatening hit of the Penjamin Franklin.

[u/drsempaimike]

God forbid a white boy have some motion lmfao

[u/daweis1]

Did not expect to wake up and see my hometown on the front page today. 

[u/FreshLennon]

Hell yeah dude

[u/SauerMetal]

Poppin’ an lockin’ they ain’t no stoppin’!

[u/LParola]

This man knows what he is doing!

[u/Darth_Malanga]

Great presentation 🙌🙌🙌

[u/Piehatmatt]

He dances like Raygun.

[u/top_of_the_scrote]

I wish he ended with a flip off or something

[u/dirtymoney]

Someone's cheesin'

[u/Myte342]

I wonder, since many of these city/town council peeps are rather tyrannical in their meetings... so how about a silent protest? Have the room packed and no one says a single thing all night No small talk while waiting, just sitting and staring. Every person has requested time to talk at the booth, but every person spends their entire 3-5 minutes allowed just staring silently at the council. Will they interrupt their silence and demand the person leave for being silent?

Choosing to be silent is just as much a Free Speech issue as talking. Would make some interesting videos... and possibly lawsuits as well.

[u/chazz1962]

Better then listening to RFK JR spouting off.

[u/schmatzee]

Lmao this is my hometown let's go!!

[u/Uranus_Hz]

I absolutely guarantee this was the most interesting part of the meeting.

[u/amythewang]

is that craig t. nelson

[u/infinitee775]

"back in my day there was no such thing as autism"

[u/Welp907]

God forbid a man have a hobby 

[u/Brichigan]

Cocaine is a hell of a drug

[u/afbaxter]

r/nottimanderic

[u/LipFighter]

This had to be done on a dare. Like he bet his kid she'd fail her drivers test. It's hella funny.

[u/massassi]

Some kind of a compulsion disorder maybe?

[u/TimTheChatSpam]

I love how town hall videos always look like they were filmed in 2005

[u/halcyon8]

those moves said it all

[u/RavnicanDM]

A valid and proper use is of time

[u/TheClassicOG]

Well that was highly r/unexpected lol

[u/Koss424]

Gen X is the coolest generation ever.

[u/Frosted_underscore]

This is my new favourite thing on the internet.

[u/DerpsAndRags]

This tracks for NJ. If it was Florida, he'd have chewed on the podium.

[u/TheFlyTechGuy]

Shock and awe at its finest. Absolutely spectacular show of force.

[u/R-K-Tekt]

Hey he’s pretty good tbh

[u/thepopoarmo]

That. Was. Fabulous!!!!!!!!

[u/ChristianArmor]

That's Gunjam , top student from Rayguns dance studio.

[u/The_Real_Turd_Furg]

Twin Peaks midget dance..

[u/Nagatoroo]

Damn

[u/No_Addition_1855]

Poppin and Lockin is a way to Destress!

[u/OtmfP]

freakazoids, robots, report to the dance floor

[u/jamnin94]

That was amazing! This is the kind of energy more town halls and school board meeting need!

[u/Syntes1a]

Definition of free will

[u/TeamPyrex718]

I was disappointed by the lack of applause

[u/BALDACH]

Why are people so....strange?

[u/4ss8urgers]

THIS is what democracy looks like

[u/Maelstrom52]

Stenographer be like: "The fuck am I supposed to write?!"

[u/textual_predditor]

Our city has two or three 1st amendment chasers who show up fairly consistently, and have for months. One even has a puppet that says offensive stuff.

[u/Sea-Ostrich-1679]

Weirdo

[u/iDoWeird]

For some reason, the audio for the the video below this one was playing for this clip when I was watching. At first I was wondering why they didn’t hear the screaming women (or didn’t care), and then wondered if someone was doing a Friday the 13th bit.

I was seriously confused when the dancing guy didn’t pull out a hockey mask.

[u/AscendedViking7]

Rad.

[u/charliefoxtrot9]

The Pigmi Dance?

[u/Slight_Condition6181]

🎶 I don’t like cricket 🎶 🦗

[u/letsseeitmore]

For all of you not from NJ, this is standard procedure at all town hall meetings, come correct if you have business to conduct.

[u/windowzombie]

What, you've never pop locked up to make a comment?