Like I said, the discussions of the council are not open to the public. Also, they don't even have to discuss about it, they can just vote.
I am aware that this might seem like a pretty community-unfriendly approach, but the system is set up this way so that we can get items ingame in a more timely fashion than in the past. With the current two week deadline on voting, items can get ingame in a much shorter time than in the past (at least in theory, we'll have to see if it actually works out). It's my goal that it actually doesn't take much longer than those two weeks on average from my presentation to the council until you can buy them in the market.
If we demanded explanations from the council, they would be given, and they would be contested, and there would be endless discussions over details and nothing would ever get ingame. I'm not saying the current system is perfect, as can be seen in this thread, in my opinion, but I don't think it will produce a lot of bad decisions.
Also, if something doesn't get in now, it doesn't mean it won't get in later. You guys have to get some lobbying skills (just don't bother me, like I said, I have no vote).