Hell freezes over

Put on your ice skates, everyone. A political body has decided that maybe, perhaps -- could it be? -- public employees should not receive automatic pay raises, but pay raises based on merit.

The Boston Globe is reporting today that Woburn City Councilors have voted to "form a committee" to study how a merit-based pay scheme would work as applied to the heads of the city's departments.

Of course, for a political body to "form a committee" to study an idea is usually tantamount to driving a stake through the heart of it. ("Die, you disgusting, innovative, sensible idea, die!") And then we must consider what one city politician had to say on the subject:

Alderman Darlene Mercer-Bruen said she also supported the change, but with one caveat. "No politics," she said. "We should come up with objective, performance-based measures that have no politics involved."

Clever little twinkle-toes.

So perhaps we shouldn't be putting the ice skates on. But maybe we could try to remember which closet they're buried in.