Right, but Simpsons episodes often have plots at the start that are pretty irrelevant when you think about them. See: the lottery stuff at the start of Dog of Death or the slumber party scenes in Flaming Moe's. I think it's natural for Springfield to have a town meeting (like they do in so many other episodes) and they're not the quickest witted bunch so I can believe they'd go for one of the first options they're given without really thinking about the outset. I agree that the Homer/Jay conflict feels slightly forced, but they needed something to break up the gagfest, and that's the most logical one I can think of. Also, the Jay Sherman character gives lots of funny stuff to the episode IMO, although most of it is through interactions with other characters (such as Homer trying to come across as "witty" as him and Patty and Selma's reaction to him telling them MacGyver is gay.)