Carson Supervisors Subverting the Public Will
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Mon, 06/11/2012 - 9:08am
One of the biggest, once-in-a-lifetime thrills this writer experienced was first-time voting eligibility in local, state and national elections. What a privilege to have my official opinion added in to the larger community, with an impact on public decisions going forward. Much can be learned from the morning-after election results, which chronicle where we are as a community at a given moment. . .a snapshot of what's on people's collective minds, or at least those who choose to exercise their voting rights.
Therefore, it is particularly reprehensible when elected officials entrusted with decision-making responsibilities abuse that power and fail to incorporate the majority's lawful desires when carrying out their sworn duties.
Last week's Carson supervisor's meeting saw a full-blown display of hubris, tone-deafness and general disdain for good government practices.
Out of the blue, the city's assistant attorney announced the city would take every measure imaginable (on the public's dime) to thwart the citizen's petition calling for a binding public vote on public funding of the massive City Center project.
Here are some of the city-proposed obstructions:
1. The project name would be changed to circumvent any initiative limitations.
2. The city would put forth an incompletely disclosed (Multiple, material financial and environmental impacts are missing.) 'advisory' vote, which the supervisors could choose to follow. . .or not.
3. The supervisors would use non-existent redevelopment funds plus a 1/8% reserve sales tax increase they didn't need to consult the voters about in order to fund City Center.
4. The city proposed incorporating the citizens' initiative language as an ordinance, then would proceed to change it some time after adoption so the supervisors could later do as they please and build City Center even if the public doesn't want it.
5. The city doesn't want to 'confuse' voters by placing the citizens' binding initiative on the same ballot as the city's much less-restrictive advisory vote. Such thinking telegraphs a patronizing mind set toward the community. . .that we are too ignorant, lazy or dumb to read and comprehend English.
Greed also seems to be driving the city's maniacal focus on securing the Nugget land, regardless of the collateral damage done to a community reeling from the enduring economic recession.
The city has no problem denying struggling local charities of the Nugget land or land sale proceeds. Carson supervisors also have no compunctions spending public money it doesn't have on a project that hasn't led to permanent jobs or downtown renaissance in one other United States city that has blithely undertaken a major new library with the promise of neighborhood renewal.
Stockton, California is days away from declaring Chapter 9 bankruptcy. One of the major reasons for its fiscal woes is "expensive investments made in reinvigorating downtown failed to produce the desired windfall."
Abuse of power is never an attractive human trait. When reckless power is brazenly exhibited by public officials tasked with serving the general public's interests, such behavior is particularly galling and subverts our democracy.
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