On a slow day it might be instructive to imagine how Lebanon's peculiar restrictions on council service might work out.

Since the start of 2004, Lebanon's city charter has barred spouses and immediate family members of councilors and city employees from serving on the council. In a lawsuit, four Lebanon residents are asking for a declaratory judgment that the restriction violates their rights.

The suit is pending in Linn County Circuit Court. Don't expect it to be resolved any time soon, certainly not before the May 20 primary, when Lebanon voters will be asked to clarify what is meant by "immediate family member."

But voters won't need a court's guidance to see that both the original restriction and the proposed explanation are impractical. They can get that impression from the ballot title itself.

After listing the relatives to which the amendment applies, the ballot explanation says that it "also directs the city elections official to make inquiry about a candidate's qualifications before accepting or certifying candidate's eligibility to stand for election." You can hear it now:

"Hi, I'm filing for city council."

"Not so fast, my friend. Are you the spouse or immediate family member of someone who works for the city or serves on the council?"

"What's an immediate family member?"

"It means husband or wife, domestic partner, parent, sibling, son or daughter, whether by blood, adoption or by marriage."

"My Dad married a lady who works in the parks department. Does that count?"

"Is she your parent?"

"I guess not, but she's nice and she said it would be OK if I called her Mom."

"Still, if she's not your parent, you can file. On second thought, she didn't adopt you, did she?"

"No, she didn't. After all, I'm older than 18. But are you sure? Doesn't it say by marriage? She's my Mom by marriage, isn't she?"

"You know, I think we'll have to get a letter from the city attorney to see if there's such a thing as a son by marriage. Could you come back next week?"

"Sure. But isn't the filing deadline tomorrow at 5?"

"Aaargh! Why didn't you just say no, you're not related to anybody around here?" (hh)