Up until last year, the D.C. Council’s weekly breakfast meetings were closed to the press and the public. The meetings, which then council Chair Linda Cropp claimed were merely social in nature, were thought of by local reporters as the place where city politicos hammered out sensitive deals — and did so away from the prying eyes of the District’s residents. Even though that has now changed, we’ve never really gotten much of a sense of what happens at the breakfast meetings, especially when the mayor shows up. Until now.

It was at last Wednesday’s breakfast that Mayor Adrian Fenty had it out with various members of the council over his plan to shutter a number of public schools. So testy were some of the exchanges that Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) lost his cool and dropped an f-bomb directed at Fenty. WTOP’s Mark Segraves was one of the few reporters to witness the whole breakfast, and as we linked to in yesterday’s Go Home Already, he blogged about it yesterday. Here’s some of the other interesting tidbits we liked:

Fire Drills: We’ve all dealt with fire drills, either in school or at work. The D.C. Council? Not so much. “Evans, the longest continuously serving member of the Council said ‘I’ve been here 16 years and we’ve never had a fire drill. They tried it once, but everybody knew it was a drill so nobody left.'”

Crime: How bad has the perception of crime gotten recently? Bad. “Council Members then started asking for more cops in their Wards and asking how they could get the Nation of Islam to protect their neighborhoods.”

The Fenty Smackdown: What does a mayoral smackdown sound like? “Graham explained that he thought a Ward Council Member should be part of any decision made on school closing in their Ward. ‘I thought I’d have a bigger role,’ he said to Fenty. Fenty was quick to respond. He leaned across the table and stretched his arm toward Graham and told him that Council Members don’t dictate police deployment, ‘But that hasn’t stopped you from sending hundreds of emails, calling assistant police chiefs, calling me, to get more cops in your Ward. I suggest you put the same energy in to the schools.'” Ohhhhhhhhhh snap!

Barry’s Big Mouth: Apparently Marion Barry’s idea of off-the-record conversations with city officials means he can tell the whole council and the press about them. “On the way out, Tangherlini walked over to Barry, who was still seated at the table. ‘You know, our off the record conversations, have to stay off the record,’ Tangherlini told Barry.”

Free Food: Mark Plotkin, WTOP’s resident political analyst, seems to like the free food more than the show. “Plotkin breezed in and went straight to the buffet. He loaded up his plate took a seat and chowed down. Minutes later, he was back at the buffet for seconds.”