By A. Finn Moss | Beacon Interim-mayor beat 

For the third time in as many years, Bass Lake residents have been saddled with a not-exactly-elected mayor as Town Council vice-president Carolyn Shee shocked the nearly empty chamber Monday night by seizing the highest office near the lake in what can only be called a coup.

Not that anyone on the council noticed or even cared.

Shee gripped the reins of power midway through the monthly council meeting after wading through the more mundane items on the agenda. But Shee didn’t do it alone.

As Shee danced through the proclamation officially accepting former mayor Guy Soundguy’s resignation, a familiar figure emerged from the shadows: Gwen “Tug” McNabb.

In a move reminiscent of Adolph Hitler’s 1923 prank at the Beer Hall in Munich, Germany, McNabb fired a starter’s pistol at the ceiling and proclaimed that Shee would bypass elections and assume the mayoralty. Shee then reinstated McNabb as chief of the Bass Lake Authority Police.

The reaction among council members was mixed. Reggie Jones (I-Out-on-the-Highway) guffawed and excused himself from the chamber saying he’d “seen enough.”

M. Adam Bradbury (R-Bass Lake/PhD History)  slapped himself on the forehead and reminded Shee and McNabb that their plot needs to be approved by a simple majority of the council and that as would-be mayor Shee would be ineligble to vote

Enos Felger (D-Dave’s house) yanked McNabb’s starter pistol from his hand and told the former and possibly future top cop to settle down.

“Look Gwen,” Felger said. “These stunts of yours will have to cease if you want to be chief again. The last thing we need is another stun gun incident.”

Betty Crocker (No relation) offered to bake some pies.

Town clerk Olden A. Goodway reminded Shee that like the town council vice-president post, the job of mayor is largely ceremonial and that she would actually lose power with the move.

“Soundguy didn’t show up once for anything,” Goodway said. “We got along fine.”

Shee then moved to adjourn the meeting, but by then everyone had already left.