I am enjoying following the debate in these pages regarding the vote on Question 1. Well, maybe enjoying isn’t the word, but it is certainly interesting to see many people I usually agree with, on opposite sides of this issue.
It strikes me that the idea of “active citizenship” is at the center of this debate. It is also of high concern in our national political environment. What does it mean to be a citizen in a democracy? To be an active citizen? This is something we all should consider because our system of government encourages, no, actually requires active citizenship (at least by voting). It was no joke that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner devoted her retirement to reviving citizenship education in our schools. Since many adults today never took a Civics class, we need to find ways to catch up.
I submit that the first requirement of being a good citizen is to continually inform oneself about the issues of the day, locally and nationally. Where we seek information and what sources we trust nowadays, is of national debate. But I want to keep this column focused on the local issue of Question 1 on Greenfield’s Nov. 2 ballot.
Most of what I know about local issues comes from what our patient and intrepid reporters and editors are able to get into this local newspaper. I avoid Facebook, preferring verified reporting. Thank heavens that we do have a local paper with space to print information about what our local government is doing, as well as people’s thoughts and opinions. This is essential in a democracy. Unfortunately, this has been lost to much of rural America (due to the unfortunate business model of needing to fund print journalism through advertisements). But I digress.
Some letter writers have reminded us that our City Council is a representative form of government. What I find disturbing in the current debate, is the implication that our council is “them” and voters in a referendum are “us.” Nothing is further from the truth. Our council is elected, and presumably we spend time finding out who they are and advocating and voting for our choices. The council has open meetings, and they have town emails where we can make sure they know our thoughts. And there is always the phone for an old fashioned conversation.
I worry that if this “them versus us” mentality takes root here, as it most disturbingly has nationally, no one will want to become a City Council member. Council members are “us” every bit as much as voters in a referendum. Who knows, maybe some of you want to join them. Currently we have a number of unopposed candidates, and one Council position with no one running.
It could be that there is no real “right answer” to the question of how many signatures it should take to put a referendum on our local ballot. We’re talking about a difference of a few hundred signatures. My vote will be Yes on 1, to increase the number of signatures it will take to attempt to overturn a Council decision. I do this to honor and respect the innumerable hours spent by our elected officials to be fully informed about the business of our city. Their level of understanding of the issues is far more detailed and nuanced than I can manage in my daily reading of the paper, and, I submit, likely far more informed than most of the people voting in a referendum.
Understand me, I do not suggest there should be no referendum to change a Council decision. Of course we need this level of active citizenship. No one is suggesting that our elected officials will always make the right decision. But I think that it is not such a bad thing to make it a bit more difficult to bring a referendum. This process would presumably require more public discussion of the issue at hand resulting in better informed voters.
What do you think? Be sure to gather as much information as you can, and avoid voting by emotion, or by “tribe,” the reference they give these days to the group we most often find ourselves in agreement with. I prefer not to use this term, and to assume that reasonable people, friends on both sides of this local issue, can agree to disagree, agreeably. For my part, I will be voting Yes on 1.
Susanae Glovacki is a retired clinical social worker, and 33-year resident of Greenfield.