SamSaid!

LOCAL

     Tip O'neill was an old curmudgeon if there ever was one. As long time Speaker of the House, he often said that “all politics are local”. Regrettably, he was probably right. One of his contemporaries (whose name escapes me) quipped “never spend al lot of time on major issues when you can waste hours on trivia”. Now there is a guy who knew what he was talking about. And I don't have to look to Washington or Sacramento to make that case. Local politics makes the point clearly.

     I live in a nice community that had a rock solid economic base a couple of years ago. Now, the City faces a budget deficit measured in the millions (long story  — some other time). I watched a recent City Council meeting at which I expected to see in-depth discussions on what to do about the huge deficit. After all, that had to be the elephant in the living room. Wrong. Instead, the Coucil wasted an ungodly amount of time hassling about a 10 year old wrought iron fence showing sign of rust. Imagine  — ten years old — wrought iron  — and showing signs of rust. Will wonders never cease. And on top of that, an audit to find possibly non-existent paperwork about the fence, going back a decade. Now here are REALLY public minded citizens. Honest  — I'm not kidding.

     This isn't a case of Nero “fiddling while Rome burns”; instead it is a case of a few inept souls “piddling while the tsunami approaches”. Local politics can prevail  –  if you drive down your street and there are no potholes, things must be OK. And if there are 'biggies” on the agenda, punt while we haggle over trivia. Pathetic. Not much wonder most citizens hold politicians in low esteem.

     Is there some reason why we just can't paint the fence and get back to the deficit? Or is that too simple?