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Written by Gary Moffat
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Don’t Take a Poll – Listen to the People
As a public service for elected officials in our region, this column is designed to help beleaguered politicians navigate the troubled waters of dealing with demanding and often hostile constituents. While all consultations are free, unfortunately, we can’t answer every inquiry. We’ll select those letters that express the most obvious need, and we’ll do our best to respond with action-oriented advice for the politically forlorn. (For those of you dealing with failing marriages or difficult teenagers, we empathize, but unfortunately we are unable to assist. Sorry.)
Dear Savage:
I serve on the city council of a small community at about 1300 feet in the Sierra foothills. We’re struggling with many problems these days, but our two most significant issues are dealing with a crumbling infrastructure and, now that the real estate market has collapsed, finding new sources of tax and fee revenue. We’ve already trimmed the city’s payroll, but if we don’t find real relief soon, we’re going to be in deep dootie.
And I mean that literally. We need to come to a decision yesterday on
how to handle waste treatment—rebuild our aging facility or tap into a
regional network. I’m alone in favoring the latter solution, the
costlier approach upfront; about the only thing my colleagues agree
with me on is that when you flush a toilet here, the waste rolls
downhill.
But what’s really bugging me is dealing with financing
this burg. I’m a retired real estate developer, and I’m absolutely
certain we need to attract giant retailers here of the Costco and
Wal-Mart caliber. In fact, I helped lead an initiative to try and
convince Trader Joe’s to open a franchise in our town. My fellow
council members all dressed in matching Hawaiian shirts and we even
staged a flotilla on a local river for a couple of great photo ops to
try and get TJ’s attention. So far they’ve ignored our overtures, but
we don’t give up easily.
Now, the owners of Mom & Pop
businesses in town are banding together to try and launch a “shop
local” initiative. They’re looking for support from the city’s Economic
Development Commission to help fund a program that will educate the
community about the benefits of shopping at locally owned and locally
managed businesses.
These people say 43 percent of every
dollar spent with a locally owned business is recycled in the
community, with corporately owned businesses returning just 14 percent.
My reaction to that blue-sky talk is: prove it ... show me the study.
These
people say that the small, independent businesses here are the ones
that always step up to help support community events and causes. They
say that the Mom & Pops are a large part of what makes our town
unique and un-Rocklin like. They say that by taking the time to look
around and explore, residents of this town will discover the true gems
in their midst.
Yeah, yeah, yeah ... I’ve heard all of that
before. Very nice. But at the end of the day, every business has to
make it on its own merits. If they can’t compete with the big boys,
well, so be it.
With that as background, here’s the reason why I am writing. This little Mom & Pop group seeks a pittance in funding from the city, but their plan is to not allow full membership to the corporate giants. They’ll invite them in the group as associate members, but I think that stinks. I let them know I won’t support the expenditure in a City Council vote unless they eliminate this provision. So, why are some of these little people angry with me? Sign me, Box Store Booster
Dear Booster:
I’m not certain why you are writing to me because you seem to have all of the answers. Quite clearly, though, you are a principled citizen who serves with the sincere purpose of trying to make the community a better place to live. Apparently, you are not a career politician, and therein lies your basic failure.
A real politician listens to the electorate, taking expensive polls to get a precise understanding of what the people want. Then it is a simple matter to respond at levels sufficient to sustain electability. This is unfortunate, because the people are greedy and they love to be force-fed Pablum. Give them a $600 economy-stimulating tax rebate, or promise to suspend the Federal gasoline tax for the summer, and you can relax for a couple of months.
Your problem, the way the Savage sees it, is you don’t listen to the people at all. You are guided by your own experience, prejudices, political ideals and standards of right and wrong. So, instead of at least considering the feedback from your constituents, you vote on issues based purely on your own higher moral signature. That’s too bad, because while you were elected to represent the will of the people, you simply represent yourself.
As a politician, any time you have a group of committed citizens volunteer to take on a worthwhile cause—and do so without compensation—you would be advised to stifle your own peculiar ideals. As long as the group violates no statute regarding freedom/equality of race, religion or sexual preference, you should bless them and get out of the way.
Look around your business districts, Mr. Councilperson, and do an inventory of empty storefronts and offices and you’ll understand why your Mom & Pops are motivated into action. Got any empty warehouses and industrial buildings? I bet you do.
The Savage says: Instead of agonizing over your personal judgment on this one, acquiesce to the will of the people. It ain’t that hard.
Gary Moffat is a journalist and owner of Carpe Vino in Old Town Auburn. He can be reached at
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