Opinions, Explanations, Points to Ponder

When Mary Lynn and I first put up the website, she put the note “Under  Construction” on this page to let you know we were working on the blog  page.  After some consideration, I’ve decided that that name is pretty  appropriate.  I am, after all, a construction contractor, and for all of  my working life, “Under Construction” would be a pretty appropriate  phrase to describe the process going on around me.

We see  construction everywhere.  I’ve heard a suggestion that maybe the orange  plastic barrel with stripes on it should be made the state flower!  I  don’t know whether that is a comment on the number of road construction  projects that seem to go on endlessly around the area, or whether it’s a  comment on the sad paucity of the bluebonnet crop in recent years, but  it would make an argument to say that there are more barricades than  bluebonnets on the roadside these days.  Or so it may seem.

When I  drive through a construction site, I don’t grumble, I look.  How is the  contractor deploying his forces?  What is the planned improvement?  How  is he handling traffic control?  Is it a safe worksite?  What kind of  equipment is he using?  How could I do what he is doing more  efficiently?  It goes on and on.  Most people just sit in the traffic  line and smolder at the delay.

From a community standpoint,  construction is good.  If it’s roads being improved, then traffic flow  and safety will be improved.  If it’s commercial buildings, then jobs  are being created and the tax base is improving.  If it’s residential,  then more people are choosing our city to grow their families.

But  it has to be orderly to be beneficial.  And that’s where the role I  play as Councilman is based.  The Council has to see to it that the  space we have in town to develop is used wisely, and in a manner that  adds to the quality of life here.  We have to plan ahead, and that’s why  I have gladly served for years on the Council's Infrastructure and  Development Committee and the 4A Economic Development Corporation.  We  need to plan ahead, and we also have to dream ahead. 

That’s why  I’ve invested my time in Transit Oriented Development planning, Imagine  Burleson, the Wilshire and I35W corridor plans, Old Town planning  meetings, and other initiatives aimed at guiding the future development  through years to come.  And it is gratifying to see so many people, our  friends and neighbors, who have also taken the time to come down and  give us their visions for the future too.

The City of Burleson  that I am helping to shape may be one that I won’t live to see come to  full fruition.  But like the man who plants a tree knowing that he will  not live long enough to sit in its shade, I know that it’s a good work  to be doing what I am doing. 

Thanks for your support and input!
 

From time to time I hear a statement to the effect that an elected  official should “listen to the Voice of the People”.  I’m quite certain  that if you assembled one hundred people in a room and asked them if  they thought their elected officials should listen to the voice of the  people, you would get one hundred affirmative answers.  Mine would be  one of them!

But then if you immediately asked just exactly what  it was that the “Voice of the People” was saying, you would get one  hundred unique and different answers.  Therein lies one of the  fundamental dilemmas of public service:  how do you know just what the  people you represent want you to do about any given matter, and how do  you go about finding out?  And then what do you do with that knowledge  if you get it?

I recall an ethical conundrum I once pondered  while in college, back when I spent my time railing against most elected  officials rather than considering becoming one of them.  (It was, after  all, the Nixon years.)  The issue was this:  An officeholder is elected  by his constituency and therefore empowered to make decisions on their  behalf.  So to carry out that responsibility, does he try his best to  find out what they want him to do and do it regardless, or does he make  decisions based on what he himself believes is best for his  constituency?  What if they aren’t the same? 

In the 1970’s it  wasn’t possible, but nowadays we can envision, at least, a time in which  all local and even national issues could practicably be settled by a  direct, public vote.  We are such a connected society that, through the  Web, we could simply poll all constituents within, say, our city about  any given matter that a council would normally have to decide, then  tabulate the numbers and call the decision on majority rule.  That would  eliminate any need for a City Council; a clerk with a laptop could  tabulate and post the numbers.  Would that work?  Is representative  government eventually going to be rendered archaic by technology and  simply evolve out of existence?

Hmm. 

In my service  on Council I hear directly from my constituents occasionally, but  usually only when something hits locally that affects only a few.  (Or  when they get a red-light camera ticket…ugh.)  When important decisions  come along, like pulling the trigger on construction of the new  Highpoint Business Park, I rarely get a lot of direct input. 

So  it begs the question:  if truly representative government were just a  few keystrokes away from John Q Public, would he really take the time to  avail himself of the opportunity to educate himself about the issue and  vote?  Would he study page after page of information about the subject  and ponder deeply the long-lasting effects of his decisions? 

City  Council information packets, posted twice a month, average probably 150  pages of data, maps, photos, contracts, tables, and other information.   The City’s annual budget is a thick binder; master plans for water,  roads, and development are hundreds more pages; ordinances hundreds  more.  Would all of us, given the opportunity, come home from a hard day  at the office, jobsite, or classroom, try to read and digest all of  that, and then weigh all the implications before voting? 

It’s doubtful we would.  But that’s what I do, and I believe any responsible Council member must do so too. 

Awhile  back, I had a conversation with a friend and supporter in which I was  trying to find out what she thought I should do about a matter before  the Council.  She listened awhile, and it was a somewhat complicated  matter.  Then she told me something that stuck.  She said, “Dan, I voted  for you because I thought I would probably agree with what you would do  about things.  Just do what you think is right.  I don’t have the time  or inclination to try to figure all this out.  I trust your judgment.”

So  there you have it, the core of what it is to represent the “Voice of  the People”:  the public trust.  It can be a heavy load to carry, and  above all things it is never to be abused or taken lightly or casually.   It requires the officeholder to know that he can defend any decision he  has ever made or action he has taken because he learned all he could  learn about it, pondered all of its implications, and satisfied himself  that his actions and his votes went for the greatest good for his  community.

Thanks for allowing me to earn your trust. 

The photo is from the finish line of Warrior Dash 2010 at Austin, TX in November (www.warriordash.com).    Warrior Dash is part race, part obstacle course, part Woodstock  festival and overall just a darn good, tough time.  After three miles of  running down dirt trails, slogging through creeks, scrambling over  cargo nets, junk cars, and stacks of hay bales, the participants finish  by leaping over flames and then making a final dive into a mud pit for a  fifty-yard crawl under barbed wire to the finish line.

So how does that relate to Council service?  Do you really have to ask?