At the moment, though, Kelly has his own ethical problem. Who pays for breakfast? His hosts have not raised the issue. They are all tossing money onto the table, on top of the bill the waitress has left. One can clearly see Kelly’s thought process at the moment. Of course he wants to pay for himself, but just as important, he wants everybody to see him pay for himself. Unfortunately, all the others have broken down into little conversational groups and no one is looking at him.

He tosses some dollar bills down on the table. “Kelly,” I hiss. “Can you pay for me? I forgot my money. I’ll pay you back, I promise.” He tosses down some more dollar bills. Thank God no one saw that, either.

The swearing-in ceremony at City Hall is scheduled for noon. At a quarter to, the place is already packed. The atmosphere is festive and celebratory. Lots of family members are present, plus just about anyone who has an interest in City Hall—police chief Peter Abbott, community activists and artists Virginia Hoffman and Diana Hamilton, County Commissioner Joe Barbetta, power broker and former state Sen. Bob Johnson, ex-Van Wezel executive director John Wilkes, Pelican Press reporter Bob Ardren, writer Stan Zimmerman, former city commissioner Carolyn Mason, and, of course, Kelly’s proud father, Kerry, executive director of The Argus Foundation.

Kerry’s face is beaming and there’s a swagger in his walk as he comes up to me to say hello. “Did you help in the campaign?” I ask him.

“I sure did,” he replies. “I helped by staying away.”

It must have been tough for him, because Kerry Kirschner is right at home in city politics. He’s served as mayor, vice mayor and commissioner. In his heyday—the late ’80s and early ’90s—he was highly visible. This was largely due to his TV show, a local access interview format that managed, through his sly wit and endless curiosity, to be a cut above similar offerings. There was nothing timid about it. One night he brought on some prostitutes from the North Trail.

But there are vast differences between father and son. Kerry might best be described as a bohemian Republican. Dogma does not interest him, and he views the whole process with a certain bemused detachment. Kelly is much more the serious Democrat. He has a pronounced and often remarked-on “wonkish” side. Details and policy fascinate him. He is the only person I know who was seriously following the French election.

At noon the buzz of the crowd dies down and the meeting begins. This is a special meeting, rather like the opening of Parliament, with a sense of ending and beginning. Feeling the ending part are the two commissioners who were voted out of office. They sit at the commission table for the last time, and they don’t look happy about it.

Outgoing mayor Fredd Atkins opens the meeting. He introduces the “State of the City” video, presented once a year rather like the President’s State of the Union address. The video outlines Sarasota’s progress over the past year: 14 new city police officers, cleaning up the bayfront, the new skate park, the search for the new city manager. As it concludes, he announces, “That voice is for hire,” referring to his flawless voice-over narration. Fredd is in a very good, almost ebullient mood today, no doubt because he alone of the three commissioners up for re-election retained his seat.

Mary Anne Servian is the first outgoing commissioner to speak. Her remarks are polite, succinct and a little bit frosty. Mary Anne, a local businesswoman who was thought to have higher political ambitions, was ousted by neighborhood activist Dick Clapp.

After Mary Anne, Danny Bilyeu speaks. He was also ousted by a neighborhood activist (Kelly), and if you’re starting to see a pattern, so is the commission. They have received a vote of no confidence from the voters in general, and they seem a little worried. Lou Ann Palmer remarks on it more than once.

Danny’s farewell speech is much different from Mary Anne’s. It’s long, emotional, hilarious and cathartic. It begins with a cell phone call. It’s supervisor of elections Kathy Dent, he tells the crowd, and she’s telling him that try as she might, she just can’t find any extra votes.