government

The Eastern Massachusetts water crisis of 2010 offers us a teachable moment about the importance of the public systems and structures we depend on in Massachusetts.

It goes without saying that we take for granted the clean water we depend on every day for all our needs. We turn on the tap and know that the water that comes out will be drinkable and will never be in short supply. But the public systems that ensure that this water is inspected and safe and the public structures that collect, convey and clean the water are invisible to us. Out of sight, out of mind.

The water system is the perfect metaphor for the challenges we face in making the case for government. Most government systems that keep us safe and make life possible in our country are invisible to us: regulatory systems, air traffic controllers, environmental protection, social safety net services. We depend on these systems and thrive because of their existence. But when most of us think of government, we bring to mind the most visible forms of government, like elected officials and police. Our interactions with the public face of government and what we read about them in the media – good or bad – colors our opinion of government. The rest of government we think of as a vast, amorphous bureaucracy.

It’s an unfortunate characteristic of human nature that we often don’t appreciate what we have until we lose it. And we also often don’t notice our public systems and structures until they malfunction. A busted traffic signal gets more attention than a functioning one, in the same way we notice potholes more than smooth stretches of road, failing bridges more than safe ones, corrupt public servants more than those who do the job we elected them to do. While a broken water conduit is a rare occurrence, it grabs headlines in ways that the well-functioning water system we’ve depended on all our lives ever could.

This is why it’s much more likely that our friends and neighbors will have a negative view of government than a positive one.

And on the local level folk are struggling to define what kind of government they want and how they are going to pay for it. Check out this series of Letters to the Editor from Holbrook residents, followed by a very thoughtful clarifying comment. (When is the last time you read one of those?) .

The Missing Gems

Holbrook - To the Editor:

Although I am a senior citizen (being 85 years old does qualify me), I am writing as a citizen of Holbrook.

Cuts have to be made in the town’s budget and we must live with cuts. The override was turned down and we now have to live accordingly, but share the cuts across the board. Do not put the burden on one group.

We are in the process of losing two gems in this town.

First and foremost, there is the Holbrook Public Library, whose budget will be cut dramatically. The library is an incredible part of the wealth of our town. Toddlers get a taste at three years and younger of good books. Continue on and the entire library nurtures students of all ages. There are, of course, books, magazines, periodicals, DVDs, computers, and on and on.

Remember the so-called "Gilded-Age" when the100 room+ cottages were built in Newport?

According to John Kerry, at a speech given in Hudson at the Middlesex-Worcester Dem Alliance Brunch today:

In 1980, the top 1% in income took home 8% of the total income in the US.

In 2005-2006 the top 1% took home 23% of the total income in the US!

This goes along with today's Globe, which states that income in Belmont increased 43.3 % between 2001and 2006 - but income in Lawrence declined. The average income in Harvard increased 31.3% to $169, 370.00, the average income in Lexington also saw a double-digit increase to $157,388 - while Burlington, Billerica barely increased their average of $57-67,000.00 - and the average income of about $20,000.00 in Lawrence declined. Here's the full story with graphs. 

Tax cut mania has benefitted the rich, who are getting richer. Tax cuts have not benefitted those at or near the poverty line, nor most of the folk earning $40,000-$70,000 or thereabouts.

Crossposted at BlueMassGroup

ONE Massachusetts came to UMass Dartmouth at the invitation of Former Mayor Ed Lambert now Director of UMass Dartmouth Urban Intiative and Craig Dutra from the South Coast Community Foundation. Click on the "Read more" button to read the money quote from Elenor Gagnon.

“Somewhere along the line,” Lambert said, “we lost faith in the government. People are disconnected from local issues.”

Local officials, business leaders and agency heads were given suggestions to improve the public perception of government — like talking about goals instead of funding or taxes, connecting services and programs to how they can create a better quality of life and making sure taxpayers understand where their money goes.

It is important that citizens understand what is going on in their local government, he added. Many town issues, like Proposition 2 1/2 overrides, “require all of us to be more intelligent and knowledgeable,” Lambert said.

Firefighter’s son helps homeless by working with public officials and demonstrating that government is the way we work together to get something done we cannot do alone.... like tackle chronic homelessness.  

WORCESTER— His father’s advice was deeply felt and repeated time and again. Never hesitate to help others help themselves, he would say to Patrick: For reasons impossible to explain, you’ll benefit at least as much as the recipient of your time, effort or generosity.Patrick T. Spencer recalls countless times he witnessed his dad follow through with the credo, be it coaching Little Leaguers, assisting a neighbor or co-worker, or just helping a stranger in need of a hand. Sometime in April, the like-father-like-son adage will be evidenced yet again when Patrick and others stand in front of the three-story stucco dwelling at 62 Elm St. and formally dedicate the Lt. Tommy Spencer House, the first residence to open as part of the Home Again initiative fighting chronic homelessness in the city. The name of the facility honors the memory of Lt. Thomas E. Spencer, Patrick’s father and one of the six Worcester firefighters who perished in the Dec. 3, 1999, inferno at an abandoned warehouse on Franklin Street.