Friday, February 26, 2010

Close your eyes and bend over, you ain't gonna feel a thing. Well, except this giant boot.

Often while sitting taking fairly accurate notes at council, I wonder to myself, "Who do these councilmen represent?"

Not as an accusation, but merely a point of wonder.

Sometimes an issue is brought forward, and council asks copious questions I can't imagine any rational human asking. Concerns so focused that I can only imagine only one person or a small handful would even worry about. Yet phrased in such a way, that it seems thoughtfully out of the blue.

The are issues brought forward that would only affect 99.9% of Rockwall, yet receive great attention for just a few from council, staff, or a combination of both.

I have often wondered, "Why would anyone even care about that?" or "Whose life is so boring and petty that they could spend so much time fretting over such a ridiculous matter in which the resulting action will do nothing but impeded or inconvenience a larger group?" Are our lives not complicated enough without devising ways ways to complicate them more, or worse, those of our neighbors?

So, as a person made up mostly of Mexican food with small amount of paranoia mixed in, it makes me think, "Who's behind all this and where are the fajitas?"

On occasion, council asks good questions, probing for details leading to a reasonable decision.

But maybe more often, passion arises that is seemingly inexplicable.

I have posted before some of those actions, which I will not go into, but it returns me to the question, "Who is being represented?"

The city council does not represent city staff. The council should not take action just because staff wants it.

The city council does not represent one person. The council should not take action just because one person wants it.

The city council does not represent special groups. The council should not take action just because a special group wants it.

(I exclude the granting of SUP's and the like as those are needed sometimes just to counter the negative actions that caused the need for the request!)


The council should act because something is good for Rockwall, not just to benefit one person or to make one old, cranky jerk happy. (He'll never be happy anyway.) I can't imagine one group or person whose interests trump those of the city at large.

A good starting place could be for the council to take great concern at any usage of "I believe X" or "I think X". When the needs of the one or few out weigh the needs of the many, the resulting actions never to lead to more freedom, prosperity, or efficiency. Also, the Enterprise would have been destroyed.

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