The desire for revenge will grip Duluth and America Nov. 4 as voters respond to a decade of wrongheaded and arrogant public policy decisions.
In Duluth, voters will spank School Board members by defeating an excess levy that would bolster needed operating funds. Residents will be expressing anger at being denied a vote on the district’s $293 million long-range facilities plan, which they undoubtably would have rejected.
Nationally, voters will smack Republicans for leadership lapses that have crippled the financial system and saddled future generations with trillions in debt. Although Democrats were complicit in the collapse, people will target conservatives for defeat, blaming them for the sins of President George W. Bush, who led the country into a costly and needless war while failing to capture Osama bin Laden, the terrorist responsible for 9-11.
If this prediction proves correct, it will reflect wide scale frustration. Some may even question democracy’s inherent ability to best serve the masses.
It’s difficult to feel sorry for the school board, an ineffectual body that, when it acts at all, generally acts in error. In 2002, members ignored a citizen-led long-range planning initiative developed when Julio Almanza was superintendent. Months of work vaporized as parental recommendations were filed on a shelf to collect dust. The board also rejected numerous school consolidation proposals that were needed to reduce costs. Simultaneously, Almanza refused to close a high school, and he successfully manipulated the passive board to drift aimlessly for years.
After Almanza’s departure, the board hired Keith Dixon. It’s unclear whether they truly sought an administrator who snuffed problems with money bombs or vicariously lusted for his backbone. Either way, their governance swiftly drifted from ineffectual to arrogant.
Many will pay the price.
- Students will lose programs and activities when voters loudly proclaim their disdain for board members.
- Teachers and school staff will suffer as resources decline and class sizes grow.
- Duluth’s reputation will suffer as outsiders learn of the expensive capital improvement costs paired with lack of program support.
This, of course, festers atop municipal sores planted during the terms of Mayors John Fedo and Gary Doty, who held the line on taxes while streets and sewers crumbled and labor contracts grew fat with provisions Duluthians can’t afford. The city’s craggy face screams of the visionary dearth prevalent for 20 years in city hall. Don Ness and future mayors will struggle for decades to restore infrastructure and integrity.
For sure, help is unlikely to descend from Washington or St. Paul.
Even with an infusion of new federal leaders, $10 trillion of debt will leave them with fewer tools than Ness, not to mention bigger problems. As they take office, Americans will be filing tax returns that reflect record investment losses, greatly reducing revenue at a time when it’s desperately needed for healthcare initiatives.
That factor will further reduce Minnesota’s revenue, already eroded by sales tax declines.
Meanwhile, inflation will steadily increase. With Bush and Congress spending money like drunken journalists, simultaneously freezing income taxes, money will be worth less and less. Although the federal bailout is designed to loosen business credit, devalued currency will fuel the problem from the other direction. Higher interest rates will plague real estate brokers, auto dealers, Cirrus Design and other employers whose success depends upon affordable consumer credit.
What better time to bounce the well-dressed vermin who stink up Washington?
Sadly, targeting the true urchins is akin to explaining Keynesian economics at a preschool. Republicans, perceived as favoring deregulation, likely will get the boot. Yet Democrats including Rep. Barney Frank, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Chris Dodd, chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, rightly deserve voter disdain. Both fell asleep on the job. Even worse, both hypocrites are blaming “regulators” for ignoring the financial crisis. Not only are both Congressmen regulators, they are the nation’s top regulators. Their arrogance is only exceeded by their guile.
And there’s plenty of that floating around – all the way to the School Board. While nobody expected a chance to vote on the $850 billion Wall Street bailout, everyone expected the chance to vote on the $293 million facilities plan. It was denied only because elected officials manipulated the system to their advantage.
Yet it’s fair to question whether election booth revenge is the answer. It settles a score, but doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. When politicians ignore the electorate, it’s time to put apathy aside and participate in government. That means attending meetings, writing letters and demonstrating who’s in charge. When elected officials fail to act responsibly, responsible citizens get off the couch, and not just on election day.
Author Ron Brochu thinks its time for people to take control of their collective futures.
Published in the Oct. 24, 2008 Reader Weekly
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