They Did What !

There seems to be an epidemic of “non-responsive-itis� among elected officials at all levels of government:

The Town Council ignores what the people clearly want in regard to the trash collection franchise.

The County Supervisors ignore the people’s objection to their self-given 56% raise.

The Governor ignores the people’s clear opposition to the special election he insisted on having.

The Representatives and Senators in Washington, in response to the clamor for prescription coverage, produce a plan that confuses the elderly, penalizes those on Medicaid, and, at taxpayers expense, increases the profits of the insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies.

It seems that once in office those we elect forget they are working for us and not the other way around. Perhaps we need to make some changes that will help them keep the employer/employee relationship straight in their minds. Just off the top of my head, starting at the local level maybe we could:

Rearrange meeting rooms, such as those used by the Town Council and Board of Supervisors, so that the people are sitting higher than the officials. This would give visual and psychological emphasis to the correct pecking order.

Prioritize the items on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting placing items the people attending are concerned with first. This would emphasize the importance of the people’s involvement in the issues to be decided.

Schedule a people’s comment time before each agenda item. This would allow people to be heard on an item without having to spend hours and hours listening to things they are not concerned about.

Turn salary decisions over to employers (the people) rather than letting the employees determine their own raises. This would allow the people to reward employees for good performance and penalize them for poor or complete lack of performance.

And last but obviously not least, the people need to start expressing their displeasure with their vote. The idea that staying away from the polls sends a strong message of dissatisfaction is a fallacy. That choice simply leaves the incumbent in place. The real message of dissatisfaction is a vote against those who continue to serve themselves instead of the people who elected them.

There are undoubtedly many more good ideas at all levels of government. Given the chance I bet many of you could come up with suggestions. Here’s your chance.

Posted by Trish Purcell at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

For several years now there has been grousing and complaining about Halliburton’s no bid contracts, overcharges, and connections with Dick Cheney. Finally the Army announced it will terminate Halliburton’s contract for supplying services to the U.S. military in Iraq and elsewhere. And, they further announced, the single company contract will be replaced with multiple contracts.

The real news is the reason given for the change. According to the Pentagon it has nothing to do with the ongoing criticism. They just realized that having multiple suppliers would help keep costs down and performance up. Sort of a “Free Market� competitive basis for doing business.

How do you suppose, after paying Halliburton billions and billions of dollars (and with no mention of restitution of the overcharges) they suddenly came to that realization? According to spokesman David Foster, “The Army lives on lessons learned. We get better each and every time we do it.�

Well that is a relief! With bright people like that in charge of our military, we can rest assured all will be well.

Posted by Trish Purcell at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Drew Kelson’s editorial cartoon in Thursday’s Post was directed at a local issue but has a far wider application.

The “I want it done my way!!� stance could as easily be applied to the escalating violence in the Middle-East between: the Iraqi Sunni’s and Shiites; the Palestinians and Israelis; Israelis and Hezbollah

It applies equally to both sides of the interaction between our country and those we disagree with: Iran; Korea; Venezuela; Cuba.

And it is just as apt for the factions here at home that have so polarized our country between: the religious right and the liberal left: the so called conservatives and liberals (terms which no longer meet their own definitions!);
the Republicans and Democrats (parties that no longer represent the values of the people who formed them).

Where is the reason, the fair minded thoughtfullness, the long-term thinking, that used to be so much a part of governing? When did violence, both physical and verbal, become the first response instead of the last resort? And how can we tell any other country how they should behave when we have allowed our own country, the most privileged in the world, to deteriorate into groups that snarl vindictively at each other “I want it done my way!!�

Posted by Trish Purcell at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Town Council invited the public to come to a meeting and voice their opinions about the trash hauling franchise. So the people came, quite a number of them. They sat, in a hot room, through two very long presentations by the Community Development Director and the hired Consultant and some rambling statements by some of the council members. Finally after about an hour and a half, they were called to give voice to their thoughts on the matter.

The long presentations had thinned the audience a little (could that have been intentional?). After all, it was hot and it was dinnertime for many who came on their way home from work. But still, about 20 residents got up and had their say, often to hardy applause from the audience. The clear consensus was that the Paradise and Magalia residents really like the two companies servicing our area and want to keep them. So when the council voted…

They did what! They ignored the will of the people and agreed to negotiate with two other companies. Way to go Council. Don’t let the people who elected you influence your decisions.

What they did there...

State and local governments, in response to the growing rumbling and grumbling about immigration reform, have begun to take action. According to Daniel Wood in the Christian Science Monitor, at least 30 states are considering or have passed bills targeting employers who hire undocumented workers as well as insisting on stricter enforcement of existing laws. At the federal level, in response to the growing public pressure…

They did what! They passed a punitive bill in the House that the Senate rejected, so the Senate presented a bill with amnesty issues that guaranteed it would be rejected by the House. This is a national problem not a state or local issue. If the politicians in Washington are going to shirk their responsibilities and just let the states pick up the slack, maybe we should ask ourselves - why are we paying them the big bucks???

Posted by Trish Purcell at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)