Will Rogers supposedly said he'd never met a man he didn't like. He was before my time as you've probably guessed. However, in my own defense, I'd point out there are a lot of folks in public life, in my opinion, he'd have problems with, ranging from municipal figures who are far more decorative than functional to and through regional leaders whose levels of toxicity can be lethal in some instances to national figures whose success causes me to wonder if God is a practical joker and they are, somehow, punch lines.
I remember, with varying degrees of success some days, my own belief that no one gets up in the morning with other than the best of intentions. Except when you talk with neighbors, or read newspapers and watch television, sometimes that philosophy is sorely tested. It's hard work to just take a deep breath and roll up your sleeves and push on, especially when you fear we are Waist Deep in Big Muddy.
So many of us find reasons to believe things are not going well that the perception of reality becomes reality. And then everything we do is a reflection of that-even if it's not real (see: 'clothes, Emperor's new ones' for further expansion on this theme). Some time ago I offered some observations on monkeys, bananas and fire hoses and what happens when you combine two or more of them at the same time. Or what doesn't happen.
I mention that because tonight at 7 PM in Council Chambers in City Hall, in my current hometown, Norwich CT, the City Council is holding a public hearing on the 2008-2009 municipal budget (they edited the City Manager's proposed budget at last Monday's Council meeting and acknowledged they may not be finished yet) which is the time for those of us who live in Norwich to look at the proposed and revised budgets and help out those whom we elected last November to make the best decisions they can for the greater good. The previous public hearing produced less than two dozen of us in attendance and eight folks spoke about the city manager's budget (but no one offered either recommendations, fiscal targets or reasons and rationale for those suggestions).
For those of us who will grumble about 'them' when a budget is approved in the coming weeks, tonight is your chance (there's also a workshop of some sort with the Board of Education on Thursday night which is yet another chance to hear how those who created that budget arrived at their requests) to listen and speak. And remember, "we" are "Them", as opposed to I am he (koo koo kachoo). But, as a fellow-resident, do me a favor, if you have preferences on how the budget should be adjusted, bring those specifics with you. The people we elected to the Council are doing their best they can (I believe) but they aren't mind-readers. The more you can tell them what you want, the less time and energy they have to devote to guessing and the more they'll have to dedicate themselves to doing. Fair enough?
And for those who insist on a referendum on the budget (average voter turnout in Norwich for the last decade has been about 22%, if you're keeping track at home. As you can tell, I am)-good on you, but stay away from me about it, okay? Each referendum would cost us about 7K and unless and until you can word budget referendum questions to reflect voter recommendations, ala Goldilocks on 'too hot', 'too cold', or 'just right', we can spend, as some towns here in the Nutmeg State do, months voting and trimming and voting and trimming for the same budget over and over again. I elected these guys to the Council, because according to the Charter of the City of Norwich, creating a budget is not only one of the things they do, it may be the most important thing for which they are responsible. Charter revision to attempt to repair more significant defects in how we manage ourselves, put me down for some of that. Management by exception? No thanks. I'm driving.
So tonight, when you have to think about attending the public hearing or watching the summer debut of NBC's American Gladiators, let TiVo do the heavy lifting. Otherwise as Will Rogers also said, "Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for."
-bill kenny
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