I left the Los Angeles city council meeting today a little dismayed, but mostly confused. Confused by why it seems so difficult for local legislators to understand what it is the majority wants when the majority comes to their workplace and tells them directly.

Today, a toothless resolution was passed. Toothless, because two bankers spoke amid several dozen members of the public. As the non-bankers spoke for hours in overwhelming support of the passing of the resolution as written, the bankers’ argument included, “You NEED banks,” and “The banking measure is irrelevant to this resolution.”

An important part of the resolution was taken away from what was passed today. Item number 33 on the LACC agenda passed as follows:

CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION (ALARCON - ROSENDAHL - ET AL.) relative to the City’s position to support the First Amendment Rights carried out by “Occupy Los Angeles” and addressing concerns regarding the Responsible Banking measure.

Recommendation for Council action, SUBJECT TO THE CONCURRENCE OF THE MAYOR:

ADOPT the accompanying RESOLUTION to SUPPORT the continuation of the peaceful and vibrant exercise in First Amendment Rights carried out by “Occupy Los Angeles” and URGE the City Departments responsible for completing the implementation plan associated with the Responsible Banking measure (council file No. 09-0234) that was approved by the Council on March 5, 2010, which would address some of the concerns of the “Occupy Los Angeles” demonstrators by demanding accountability and results from the Banks we invest taxpayer dollars in, to bring the Responsible Banking measure for a final vote to the Council by October 28, 2011.

The part that was removed would have finally brought to vote a powerful banks accountability measure that has been tabled for over a year. Apparently, the city council believes voting on such a matter would be unreasonable.

I just can’t wrap my head around how confused they acted about what to do. The people they represent came directly to them and told them in plain English, over and over, what they wanted. What good was the testimony of two passionless bankers who dared tell our city that we need them? That we can’t function without them? Wouldn’t that seem like the type of attitude that would need regulation and accountability demands more than anyone? They made it clear as to how they view themselves. Necessary, powerful, and rich.

The councilmen look so much like people. They nod, they smile, they get bored and walk away while we’re talking to them sometimes. But when it comes time to act, they become so decidedly irrational. But they pretend they’re making sense. And I think they expect the people to assume they’ve reached a point in the procedure that’s impossible for the layman to understand. The fact is, nobody in their right mind could understand the kinds of questions they ask.

“What should we do?” Why isn’t it obvious by now? There’s no room for doubt at this point as to what we’ve been asking for. We’ve been studying this resolution since the moment it was proposed because it finally made us feel like a group of elected officials was interested in effectively serving its constituents. I don’t want to believe that wasn’t their plan all along, but the comments made by certain councilmen sounded like nonsense.

The responsible banking measure is irrelevant to the rest of the resolution? On what planet? Has anyone inside of City Hall bothered to read any of the signs outside of their windows? We’re upset about the countless times banks have escaped being held responsible for their major mistakes. We want accountability. Why let us in the room if even our most basic concerns are being ignored?

I want to trust the men in suits. I want to trust them so badly, because they’re people, and I can’t fathom corruption on such a grand scale. I’m sure I’ll get there, but I can’t promise I won’t go crazy first. It’s a lot for a bright-eyed aspiring political journalist to come to terms with.

How is it so acceptable that a proposition to regulate an industry can be shot down or made irrelevant by the very members of that industry? The first banker proudly admitted affiliation with two major banks guilty of mortgage and loan fraud at the beginning of his speech. I don’t care how shameless that guy is – the city council is paid by our taxes, and they work for us. If they decide to be shameless, I care. And I can’t imagine any taxpayer who wouldn’t. This is how our money is being spent.

The measure passed, but the measure we came to support failed. And I have no reason to believe that the finance committee will pass such an intrinsically moral regulation for as long as the banks are allowed to stand up and remind them that their government would be helpless without them. In what other situation can a criminal say that to a government? How much longer will our supposed representatives award subsidization and moral support to the already all-powerful corporations who proudly announce their ego problems?

So many supporters of this resolution were some of the most powerful speakers I have ever witnessed. I don’t know what it is about this movement, but it seems to be collecting intelligent, educated activists faster than my carpet collects dog hair. That’s unheard of, at least to me.

I hope that those who support our basic idea of justice and legal equality for criminal banking systems will continue to support this. The success of our movement never hinged on a single piece of legislation. We got a tip of the hat today. No other occupation has gotten that far.

But I, personally, lost a great amount of faith today for men in suits. The suits won’t help you if you continue to underestimate our ability to recognize when a resolution we’ve fought so hard for is declawed right under our noses.

No matter if the city council is on our side, or just pretending, we will never stop being the people. And sooner or later, the people win. I just hope I don’t have to go through such a disappointing, excruciating three hours that make me question my chosen career path many more times. People in my position have actually lost their minds from this. That’s not even a joke, really.