With apologies to the legendary Warner Robins businessman who bent my ear last week on behalf of Mayor Chuck Shaheen: I’m giving it my best shot but he sure makes it difficult.

I even wrote a week ago that in the infancy of his administration, it was not unreasonable that Mayor Chuck Shaheen be allowed to test his new wings as he went about deciding the best way to govern. Evidently, however, he took the training wheels off too early and fell flat on his face and has done so in a way that should be intolerable both to members of the city council and the ordinary men and women both mayor and council are sworn to serve.

And it was done in a politically illogical way, especially by one who had been on the job for mere weeks and should have been trying to figure out how things work in the real world.

On Monday, Shaheen took the audacious step of sending the following “Message from Mayor Shaheen” to council members.

From: Faye Coulter

Sent: Mon 2/22/2010 9:31 AM

To: Council Officials

Subject: Message from Mayor Shaheen

Per Council’s request, we have been successful in getting the agenda to you by Thursday.

Let me have your feedback if this is working for you.

This was put into effect to better manage our time schedules and to make us more prepared for agenda items before they are presented.

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, no items will be added or recognized at pre council or council meetings if it has not been placed on the agenda by Thursday.

Before an agenda is sent out on Thursday, I will make the final approval of the items to be presented.

This change is also being implemented to further help manage our time for council meetings and give council time to research the items.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The memo comes on the heels of Shaheen’s pronouncement a week or so ago that members of the city council could not talk with department heads about city matters without going through him. To at least one member of council this “directive” carried with it the mandate that if a councilman has interaction with the personnel of a city department, the mayor is to be notified by departmental staff.

Understandably, this is not sitting well with most members of the Warner Robins City Council who refuse to be turned into non-thinking, non-achieving play-pretties. They will not hook the aspirations and hopes of their constituents to the train of a proved mayor, let alone a brand spanking new one.

As one council member puts it, “I would like for him to be the most successful mayor in history, but I’m deeply, deeply troubled. He is headed in the opposite direction.”

Another put his sentiments in writing to Shaheen. “I think I am correct,” writes this councilman, “but I do believe we all have a final say in the agenda…we need to start working together starting at the top.”

Shaheen seems not to understand that by trying to dismiss the city council he is actually inviting it to strike out its own and do things without him.

The one thing that is certain is that the business of the city is going to get done, either by mayor and council or the council acting on its own.

Either the mayor is going to meet with Warner Robins Police Chief Brett Evans for his first since inauguration one-on-one conference with the chief or someone on the city council is going to be designated to do so. According to council members, there are several such “incidentals” which require the city’s attention.

Council has been gentle and genteel so far, but its patience appears to be wearing thin. That was evident a couple weeks ago when the mayor tried to abruptly adjourn a meeting on his own. He found to his displeasure that he couldn’t do it without council concurrence.

No matter how you count it, it takes only four votes and Mayor Shaheen needs to decide in a hurry if he really wants to play on the same team with the big boys.