I used to prepare reports for a city council. The city manager had such a low opinion of his council members that he instructed me to restrict my reports to one page ("that's the most they can comprehend"). Once I ran over and had a one and a quarter page report. He made me rewrite it.
I found it hilarious that he would swear at and berate his council behind their backs ("that drunken SOB wouldn't know his ___ from his elbow"), etc. But when he talked to them directly, he pretended to worship the ground they walked on. Maybe because his job and salary depended on their acceptance.
Financial memoranda for the board and executive committee for multi-billion dollar projects had to be polished down to one page. I did that several times.
“I used to prepare reports for a city council. The city manager had such a low opinion of his council members that he instructed me to restrict my reports to one page (”that’s the most they can comprehend”). Once I ran over and had a one and a quarter page report. He made me rewrite it.”
That’s SO FUNNY. When I worked for a city council, I had to assemble packets for their weekly meetings. Once, a department submitted a document that was printed double sided. The office manager told me to go to the copier and copy it one-sided, because the council members “might not think to look at both sides”. A little temp girl was there and she quietly asked, “Do they read books?” I burst out laughing (and got in trouble, of course).