INFORMATION #3 09-22-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 MCMA NEWSLE'I-I'ER Hohenstein frown page 5 the development next door to prevent whatever threats real or imagined it would present to their world. The same person will denounce bureaucracy when called upon to justify a request regarding their own ac- tivities and will insist that com- plex rules and procedures be developed to control every as- pect of other people's behav- ior. The same person will fight the City tooth and nail when cited on a weed com- plaint and then demand that the City place strict controls on others whose homes aren't kept well enough for the neigh- borhood. At other times, people who pay about a dollar a day for police and fire protection, infrastruc- ture maintenance, public facili- ties, parks, community en- hancements and the other ben- efits of a multi-million dollar municipal corporation, will de- mand that staff drop every- thing to resolve their problem right now. If that is not po.ssi- ble, then staff is.unresponsive, uncooperative and inefficient. Public agencies cost too much and public employees don't work hard enough, "but they had better have the time to give their full attention to making my neighbor move his com- post pile so I don't have to be a grown up and talk to the per- son myself." Often times, the individual's right to be heard is confused with the individual's expecta- tion to have his opinion pre- vail. If decision-makers weigh the evidence and come to a conclusion different from our own, the social contract suggests that we respect the will of the majority and the val- ue of diverse opinions. Rather than subscribe to this basic the- ory of representative democra- cy, I have seen people hold their breath until they mm blue, spread sleazy gossip on the playground and say bad words about the people who made the decision. It's time for the volunteer vic- tims to take responsibility for themselves. They need to grow up or suffer the conse- quences. The logical extension of a sibling society is an ado- lescent government and any- body who doesn't' shape up is going to get one big, collective noogy. You've been warned.