Yesterday I had the chance to see an example of one aspect that I hate about city gov't. What I call a "cigar & brandy in the back room" deal. I naively thought I'd left this kind of trash behind when I left the employment of the USN. I guess there will always be people that don't want to "share power" with others. Stupid!
I attended a meeting regarding the particulars of one of the city parks. The design of this park had been worked on, discussed & created by many organizations & interested people. But because one person of means is seeking a tax benefit (i.e., taxpayer dollars), the mayor of our city basically has done all he can to ignore this previous community input to appeased the "donor". Classic case of some so called 'big fish in a small pond' wanting to make decisions without any community involvement. They want to complete redesign the park without vetting this & getting any of the original organizations' input.
I won't go into how I intend to let as many people know about this or how I will play my little role in this puzzle but I do know that this is very wrong. Classic case of power misused. What is wrong with getting others' inputs?
Rather than just get mad, I've chosen to glean some lessons from this experience.
1) People with alot of $ do not expect to be challenged or questioned. When you do, boy do they get pissed!
2) People of means naturally gravitate toward others with means & treat those of less wealth subserviently.
3) Everyone says they want to be treated equally, but there are those that feel they are more "equal" than others.
4) Anyone that questions gov't will be viewed as a troublemaker (go along & get along).
5) Trying to do "the right thing" is a thankless goal that often can grind one down.
So what now? I will do my best to assist in getting the word out on this project in hopes the community will again rally together & come up with a plan comprised of many inputs instead of a few. And I will practice the CYA aspect definitely!
Who knows what the final product will be? But I do know that I will always try to encourage a government for the people & by the people. Corny sounding I know, but that is the way I feel.
It would be ALOT easier to just look the other way but how long & far can one go thru life this way? Could I respect someone that lived their life, taking the path of least resistance. One must choose their battles wisely but where is the balance? Something to think about.
