Real vs Convenient Truths
Some strange new truths have arisen of late in local town business that echo similar developments on a national basis. Namely, elected officials have started mistaking their governing administrative duties as being chiefly business-like in nature… not so much for private gain, from what we can tell, as for an executive-like disregard for the transparency their governing roles demand in a true democracy.
In Shandaken, Supervisor Bob Cross Jr. withheld news about a contracted business entity’s failure to comply with a municipal contract from his fellow elected town board because, he said, he didn’t want anything leaked to the press that might embarrass the company in question. In Olive, a month-long Florida vacation on the part of the town supervisor has basically resulted in the town ceasing to do business, at least in any public fashion. Forget it if you’re a member of the public seeking information about pending decisions that will effect the town’s future, from possible cell phone access to a potential sewer system for Boiceville. Or if you’re a member of the press seeking to serve as proxy for that public.
Sure, we’ve had years of talk now about how much better government could run if handled like a business. But much of that came before the current Bush administration took over in Washington, with their various attempts to privatize decision-making, from the running of wars to energy policy, mostly with disastrous results. Or the release of the Republican Party playbook in recent years, which urged skepticism of all the media said… and even manipulation of public opinion via government-sponsored press releases disguised as news.
Go after every bit of news one doesn’t like as being obstructionist, went the plan. Destroy the messenger, even if the role of the Fourth Estate, as the media has been called since the French Revolution, is more like that of a referee than a balancer. Avoid the sunshine laws, the idea of open government, using the excuse that they inevitably make us less safe.
Frankly, we’re tired of such arguments being used in local politics, where questions of authority and embarrassment and who’s got most power are irrelevant. Moreover, we’ve had enough of elected officials declaring themselves decision-makers and deciders, especially when their decisions tend to side with business owners over those they’re supposed to be governing.
Remember… under our system, an elected official represents all the people he governs, and not just those who actually pulled the lever for him or her. Any attempt to avoid facing the public, either directly or via we in the press, basically amounts to malfeasance… an ignoring of one’s official duties.
Furthermore, these decisions we’re allowed these representatives to decide on are not tests of their personal will, or sense of individual achievement, but matters that determine our collective destiny, from war down to the flushing of a toilet.
Who are our elected officials anyway if not our proxies, our servants? It’s time to return to the eternal truths of democracy, and turn our backs from the convenient “truths” of business, where those who benefit are not necessarily all.
Have a restful month of March… we’ll see you next on the 29th.
PS