'We the People'

You might want to clear your calendar to make time next Tuesday evening at 7:30 to attend the swearing-in of our new City Council and Board of Education in City Hall.

It’s an opportunity to thank outgoing members of both bodies for their selfless service and to congratulate the new members on their assumption of new roles and responsibilities (before in what will seem like a matter of moments we start to hold them accountable for all manner of unhappy consequences, most of which will, as it turns out, have nothing to do with them).

The peaceful transition of power is a manifestation of the miracle of democracy and something, based on voter turnout, I fear too many of us think happens somewhere else but not here. Flowery words, I know, so how about some real talk?

One of the challenges in representational government is sorting out who, exactly, is being represented. After any election, a President, a Governor, a mayor, and all who are elected to office, must reconcile their 'election mandate' with the simple reality that not everyone voted for them.

Additionally, quite often it's hard to define what we, ‘the people,’ want of our elected leaders. Do we expect people to reflect our wishes and do our bidding or do we want those whom we’ve placed in office to see their positions more as striking off and striking out in new directions for the betterment of all and each of us?

When we all clamor for those in charge to 'listen to the people' we sometimes forget that we, the people, don't speak with one voice or have one thought. From the first tea party in Boston Harbor to more recent incarnations across the country this past Election Day, we're still working to define, and then refine, what we, the people, want of those whom we elect.

We've spent decades talking at one another instead of with each other. We've substituted diatribes for discussions and deployed examples of past failures (and we’ve had more than a few of those) to rationalize continuing resistance to attempted and needed improvements. Communication remains the key component to any success we hope to have, otherwise, all we did was select new brooms to sweep old dust.

Many of the challenges, or as an acquaintance calls them ‘opportunities to excel,’ that we wrestled with before the election are still with us. People prefer problems that are familiar to solutions that are not.

Our schools have morale and leadership concerns that our Board of Education members will have to attempt to resolve. Not forgetting the continuing reinvention of the classroom experience as the new school construction project comes up to speed.

Public safety concerns on Route 82 did not evaporate the day after the elections, nor did the historically inadequate police station suddenly sprout an additional floor. Economic development downtown as well as elsewhere, looking at Occum and the proposed second business park, needs to be more effectively articulated and fully explained.

We, the people, all of us need to be as informed and engaged in the running of our city as those whom we've elected to do so on our behalf. If you couldn’t be bothered to vote earlier this month, guess what. you are part of the problem we face in making Norwich someplace we can all come home to. We need each of us, so be ready to help.
-bill kenny