So, during these trying times, what issue
or issues continue to weigh most heavily on your mind?
If it's a survival issue like the rising cost of living that consumes you with how to pay your rent, mortgage, or property taxes, or your climbing utility and insurance bills, or the cost of groceries and other necessities, then you probably have less brain space for any number of global issues that bring constant anxiety to the daily lives of many of us. I think I made it clear in my most recent blog post that I am deeply disturbed by seeing the daily lives of the people of Minneapolis severely disrupted by the current federal paramilitary operation.
Feedback from
that post tells me that it disturbs some of you as much as it disturbs me. No surprise. But these
days there are many disturbing issues furiously competing for the pinnacle position
on our personal anxiety pyramid.
For some of
you it’s Israel’s occupation of Gaza.
For others,
it’s Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
And for
many, it’s DOJ’s shady handling of the Epstein files.
The list could
go on and on.
The question
here is what remedies do any of us have at our disposal to help turn the tide
on global events and conditions that haunt us and refuse to let go?
Public protests,
lobbying congressional representatives, organizing, donating, voting, and supporting
watch dog journalism all come to mind. I’m sure there are others. We can all do
something.
Which brings
me to a recent op-ed in Watertown News. Here’s the opening paragraph:
On
Tuesday, February 10, the city council will be requested to support a Back From
the Brink resolution asking our U.S. government to work toward world nuclear
disarmament.
Well, I am
all for world nuclear disarmament and I doubt that I know anyone who isn’t. What
I am not for is the type of political theater that turns the Watertown City Council
into a political soap box.
Once a city council
becomes a venue for symbolic declarations on national or global issues, it
invites every cause — worthy or not — to demand equal airtime. I’m sure we have
neighbors who are nervous about China invading Taiwan. Are they entitled to a city
council resolution urging the federal government
to protect Taiwan from aggression by mainland China?
When every
injustice or potential threat becomes the city council’s business, the
council’s actual business risks becoming secondary. That is not moral
leadership; it is mission drift.
City
councils exist to legislate, fund, and oversee matters they can actually
affect: public safety, housing, infrastructure, schools, and fiscal stewardship.
Need I say that this is a full time job?
Do those residents who are struggling to pay
the rent and buy groceries want their elected representatives focusing on them
or on Taiwan, Minneapolis, or Gaza?
This is not an argument about ideology or
values. It is an argument about boundaries.
To my
knowledge, no councilor expressed this principle more eloquently than Councilor
Piccirilli, when he explained his objection to adopting a council resolution on a matter pertaining to
support of a labor union. You can find his statement here AT THE CITY COUNCIL
MEETING ON JULY 12, THE BRAT PACK WON AND THE INSTITUTION LOST
What
Councilor Piccirilli understood and what the majority of the councilors, on
that particular evening, either did not understand or did not care about is that when a
city council takes positions on matters far outside its jurisdiction, it
doesn’t expand its moral standing — it dilutes its institutional credibility.
On Tuesday, February
10, the council will likely be facing substantial pressure from well meaning, highly energized citizens, armed with hundreds of signatures on a petition, advocating for passage of the nuclear disarmament resolution. Each councilor
will have a golden opportunity to put aside their political ideology and acknowledge
the boundaries of the institution in which they serve by following the
Piccirilli Precedent.
A city
council’s credibility and legitimacy come from governing locally, not by
sending symbolic messages on global affairs it cannot influence.
And given
the challenges – expected and unexpected – that lie ahead and the tough
decisions that will have to be made, the council’s credibility should be guarded,
not squandered.
On Tuesday,
they can do the easy, feel-good thing or they can do the hard, right thing.
You should
make it a point to tune in, or show up in person, and watch it play out.
You may find it gratifying or disappointing
but either way enlightening and entertaining.
I will be
rooting for gratifying.
Bruce Coltin,
The Battle For Watertown
