Politicians are the only people who get away with broken promises. They promise the world, lie about it, then go about as if nothing happened. They get to do it repeatedly with spectacular results. Oddly enough, appointed officials don’t lie that much while elected ones are pathological in their miscreant behavior.
The reasons are obvious: An appointed official need not address the public in the first place, while the elected one has tabs kept on him or her and will invariably face another election.
The new municipal councils are made of exactly those two types of officials. This promises interesting times to come. How are they going to behave? How will they view each other? Who might feel superior when the council meets to discuss its agenda? Who would think himself with the higher moral authority? Most importantly, who has real power?
In lay terms, this strange mélange will be a salad bowl made up of bureaucrats and politicians. These are two different breeds who do not usually coexist in harmony. The closest thing I can think of that might be similar to this situation is in the world of academia between tenured professors and those still freelancing.
I know from personal experience that a tenured professor, no matter how brilliant, is a smug and cantankerous entity who thinks all knowledge resides with him personally. And why shouldn’t he? His job is secure for life, he has to answer to no one, and is beyond the recommendation or condemnation of his peers and students.
My first concern, as a citizen, is for the services this council will or will not provide. I, and many others, still don’t know what these councils are going to do, but I assume that they will, as in other countries, be taking care of our water, local streets, sewer systems, garbage collection, and other municipal services dealing directly with the public. Such life governing duties cannot tolerate political bickering and maneuverings.
If things go wrong and the council is bogged down on personal problems or interests, who gets to be changed? I assume the elected ones will be thrown out. Is there a system to make sure the appointed ones are not smug and safe in their jobs? If bread is more important than love, I should think that clean streets and good supply of water is more important than who is sitting where and how they came to be there.
I ask these questions because I am a pragmatic man. I want my bread before love. In other words, I don’t want my right to vote to deny me services. As a citizen, I have the right to these services and will not give them up for anything else.
Our first tentative steps into the realm of reform should not be timid or hesitating. Indeed, they should be bold and secure. This will allow us to benefit from both experiences and move to the next level. A divided council between the elected and the appointed is a shaky edifice.
