Jim Swanson from Australia stumbled on our site (G’day Mate!), and was wondering about The Mayor’s office, saying “When I hear ‘Portable’, I think worksite s***house. Please tell me you ain’t got the bloke holed up in there huffing trough lollies. No wonder he spit the Dummy.”

Well Jim, I assure you, we treat our dully elected civil servant better than that. You see, here in the USA “Portables” are these small prefab buildings that can be dragged out to worksites, schools, or anywhere else where additional space is needed for classes, office space, etc.

A couple of years back, Mayor Amundsen had petitioned voters for a dedicated office space of his own, preferably in the old City Hall. Renovations began, and the Town Council set him up in a portable while workers tore down walls, ran utilities and so on. However, about a year into the project, a major exhibit was loaned to us, and the museum needed some temporary storage. The Mayor was a good sport about it, but before work could continue, a pipe burst in the library, and the space was used to repair and salvage books too valuable to dispose of. Then we got the ankylosaurus skeleton and needed to store some exhibits while we expanded the main Museum floor, and, well, you can see the pattern that emerged at this point..

To make it up to him, however, we have all agreed to knock before coming in. In addition, The City Council even pays for him to get three free lunches per week at Edna’s (from the kids or seniors menus) until we get his office set up again. So, there’s at least some carrot for all the stick he gets. He’s a good mayor who has kept things running smoothly for over ten years. It’s the least we can do.