Election Thoughts

A friend of mine once told me that if I thought democracy was a messy way of doing the people’s business, I should take the time to visit a sausage factory, as neither can be found as being very attractive at times. Winston Churchill was quoted numerous times as saying, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time and failed. ”One of my professors in college once spoke to us about the four pillars of Democracy. The Legislature, the Executive, the Judiciary and the Media. (I’m being careful to not take up sides for any of them).He explained each Pillar must act within its own domain, but not lose sight of the larger picture. He went on to say that the strength of each Pillar should work together to complement each other. Kind of an interesting thought if it did work that way. In the last several decades it appears that those “Pillars” seem to be fighting amongst themselves in a battle for the upper hand, or to dominate the process, rather than complement it and strengthen the process. All of these pillars must have strong ethical foundations while placing the needs of those they serve at the center of their focus. Without that concentration of those needs, the support of those they serve will soon diminish and their support of those they serve will quickly fade. As we’ve witnessed the lack of focus on the basic needs of the citizens of our nation, we’ve seen the discontent of our citizens continue to rise in the direction that our nation has been taking as of late. Our citizens are not looking for handouts, free phones, or other gimmicks. Instead, they want to feel safe on their streets and in their homes. They want to be sure that local communities, counties and states are spending their tax dollars wisely. They are not looking for expensive Federal giveaways but want to ensure infrastructure projects are intelligently spent to best benefit those projects they have been allocated to, and not lining the pockets of corrupt contractors and politicians and cost the taxpayer. As we prepare to elect several new councilors in November, I hope we choose folks with some “institutional knowledge” of the city and how we’ve come to be where we are today. I just don’t want to see us continue to make the same mistakes year after year. Let’s look at how we provide services and whether we are doing it in the most efficient means possible, while getting the “best bang for our buck. ”Could we also please put a moratorium on hiring more consultants and call on some of our own very talented citizens to look at some of these issues?