When the founding fathers of this great republic formed a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, they rejected the idea that a monarch or any elite group would rule the lives of Americans. They ordained that the people would make the decisions that determined life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The people would control their own destiny through the democratic process.
From the national level to the local level, that process has been subverted by groups of people who claim to know better than those they were elected or appointed to serve. In this election year, voters watched as the Democratic Party made a mess of choosing their presidential candidate. As Clinton and Obama battled neck-and-neck for the nomination, their party toyed with the primary process. Voters in Michigan and Florida have been disenfranchised, told that their votes don’t count.
The Democratic candidate for President of the United States will ultimately be selected by an elite group of “super delegates” to the Democratic National Convention who are not required to exercise the will of the voters. After all, they know better than the rest of us who should be president.
At the state level, the will of the people is regularly ignored. Even when referenda pass at the ballot box, the people’s representatives choose to ignore the voice of those who put them in office.
At the local level, the people of Norwood must accept that they will not choose their own representation on one of the town’s key governing boards. Chris Morrison’s announcement two days after the town election in April that he would be resigning at the end of June leaves the choice of his replacement in the hands of the members of the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen. Perhaps they know better than the rest of us who should serve the people of Norwood on the school committee.
When it became obvious that Norwood High School needed to be rebuilt or repaired, a select committee chose to focus on a single outcome, the tearing down and rebuilding of a structurally sound edifice. So sure were they that their way was the only way, they never even entertained the option of a plan for renovation. They knew better than everyone that what they wanted was what the town needed. Anyone who disagreed with them risked being maligned, even on the floor of Town Meeting where the voice of the people is represented and heard.
The people, in the eyes of some, aren’t even qualified to make a decision about how they will dispose of their trash. Town management and a majority of the Board of Selectmen have circumvented the bidding process and awarded a five-year contract to Waste Management, Inc., the town’s current hauler, that will allow the company to mechanically pick up trash and recycled materials. Residents will use wheeled 64-gallon trash containers and 96-gallon recycling containers for pickup and emptying by a single truck driver starting this fall.
The official reasoning was that (a) there just wasn’t enough time to take bids and (b) a one-year extension of Waste Management’s contract could cost the town an additional $200,000 that is not in the 2009 budget. The townspeople should be reassured that it wasn’t mismanagement that caused this to happen, but that those who know about things like trash pickup know better than the rest of us how we should dispose of our trash.
It doesn’t matter if there is a better way, or that the people might want a system more tailored to their needs than the needs of Waste Management or town management. By creating a sense of urgency to push through a new system, town management has sent a clear message.
Norwood resident Candace Leary’s Midpoints column appears Mondays in the Transcript.
