Commentary: Time for some political homework

In my unofficial poll — well, while talking with friends since Tuesday’s election, anyway — it seems the one thing all voters have in common is a sense of relief that the interminable (and disgusting) political attack ads have ended. Gosh, wouldn’t it be refreshing — oh yeah, and informative — if candidates ran on their résumés? Firing zingers at other office seekers isn’t really one of the qualifications we were looking for.
What we wanted was representation in government, and we’ve not had a lot of success with that.
It was Winston Churchill who first said, “Democracy is a terrible form of government … but it’s better than all the others.” It still is, and capitalism is still a pretty cool economic system. But the two have been getting far too chummy.
Ours is a representative government — of, by, and for the people. From local board members to federal lawmakers, elected officials have a single imperative: to represent the people in whose name they serve. Phrases like “I’m not beholden to special interests,” “No more politics as usual,” “Let’s take back our government” and “I’ll be your voice” are almost compulsory in political campaigns. They might not be outright lies, but nary a one of those pledges proves out.
On the contrary, far-reaching laws, major policies, massive expenditures and significant governmental commitments can be counted upon to reflect the preferences and priorities of special interests and big money, almost without exception. Actions of an extremely important (and sometimes critical) nature are routinely taken with no regard whatsoever to constituent preference. Pretending to act in our name, elected representatives have pocketed corporate handouts and allowed the environment to be spoiled, the economy to be destabilized and natural resources to be exploited for profit.
No one in government is elected to think for us. President of the United States and governor are the only offices for which candidates are elected to “lead,” and those positions are enjoined from significant action without affirmation by representatives of the electorate. Regardless of how smart, experienced or well meaning they might be, office holders are not charged with doing what they think is best for us. They are elected to do what we think is best for us.
It’s usually money, but on occasion it’s political posturing, timidity, an inflated sense of self or personal commitment to pet projects that makes an elected official violate his or her responsibility. When a parcel tax measure to pay for a pet project was turned back by SLV voters in 1995, it was probably the latter that motivated an otherwise stellar county supervisor to go around them and use the board of supervisors to create a joint powers agreement and fund the project through “fees” that didn’t require voter approval. That might also be why the SLV water board, shown to be incapable of serving existing ratepayers without browbeating, punitive pricing and use restrictions, made the unilateral decision to take on the Felton system.
Once elected, politicians develop a pathological aversion to prioritizing. Local boards and councils constantly initiate programs and make commitments with neither input nor approval from the voters in whose name they act. Often, constituents aren’t even told it’s been done. Roads and sewers, schools, parks, libraries, police and fire protection — these are services that a preponderance of constituents in all districts consider elemental, a perspective confirmed by the application of common sense. The crippling budget cuts in these areas to maintain commitments created without deference to constituents is hubris that borders on malfeasance.
Legislation that should originate from or be approved by constituents is more often introduced at the behest and for the benefit of special-interest groups. The extent to which corporate money is given to voter representatives to subjugate our interests in favor of big business is tantamount to bribery.
An analysis of the 2007-08 California legislative session by the San Jose Mercury News found that almost 40 percent of the bills introduced were sponsored, and even written, by outside interests. And those bills made up 60 percent of all legislation passed into law. No surprise: Candidates for office in this state get nearly 80 percent of their funding from outside of their legislative districts. The figure for federal office seekers is even higher. Let’s work to get some limits on that.
Sonny Barger said, “I never thought freedom was cheap,” and truer words were never spoken. In this case, the currency is time. There’s no such thing as being uninvolved, and complaint without action is meaningless. If it bugs you when elected officials blatantly do things that do not represent the majority of the district voters, raise a ruckus: make phone calls, write letters, hound the media. The California constitution includes a recall provision; if the failure to perform is significant and continuous, explore ways of bringing it to bear.
Between now and the next election, we all need to spend some off hours working to support and advance representatives that do the job and calling to account those who don’t. Elected officials who ignore, defy or pervert their covenant with voters are antithetical to democracy and good government. Malignancies like the dark; let’s shine a light on ’em. It’ll be fun.
Steve Bailey is a Boulder Creek resident. He can be reached at

sb*****@cr****.com











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