Officials Listen, Some Now, Some Later

Referendum is a word that strikes fear in the hearts of elected officials. It does so since the result that it carries is the electorate’s most powerful tool against governmental action; it can stop a project or delay implementation for years.
As with any high-powered weapon or prescription, a referendum ought to be used sparingly, and not merely as a way to slap officials in the face and yell, “Gotcha!”
On the other hand, if municipal government worked the way it is supposed to, referendum would be just another word in a law book. If officials listened to the people who elected them, many differences of opinion that have resulted in costly and divisive referendum elections would have been avoided.
I have witnessed, over the years of municipal coverage in this county, a progression of officials that seems ironic but true.
From among the populous, perhaps a citizens’ group, a spokesperson emerges. He (it happens to women, too) may be an eloquent speaker, well educated, with valid concerns about certain areas in the town. That person attends some municipal meetings, makes statements or maybe takes a more offensive tact against the elected officials.
They may, at first, think the person an anomaly, just somebody with a complaint, so they pay little attention.
Spurned, the person may become indignant and rally support among his peers. One thing leads to another, and soon there is a petition circulated to place that person’s name on the ballot for election.
If that person works hard enough, shakes enough hands, sticks with the issues, and swings voters, he will find himself elected.
The first term is usually a honeymoon, everybody adores the new person, after all, he is their fair-haired representative, and the sky’s the limit. He can do nothing wrong.
Then, politics, like a fog that floats from the sea, enters the picture. Never a clean game, there are deals and votes, and yes, favors to be repaid. These things are nothing new; they are part of the landscape in government, though we don’t like to think it happens, it does, daily, and on every level of government.
Let’s say the person still has favor among the electorate, runs, and is elected a second and subsequent times.
To put it frankly, he’s not the same old person he once was. Maybe he’s not above the law, but such thoughts enter his mind. Soon, there is an air of arrogance that begins to show. Old friends may fall away and those political friends draw closer.
The folks who elected the person are cast away. What they say no longer resonates with the elected official. When they speak, he may listen, but the words are soon forgotten.
Projects come before the governing body that sound valid. There may be a vocal minority that demands, say, a new gateway entrance to the town; or a project to revamp the major business district in town; or maybe build a new convention hall.
Ears are closed on the governing body. Opponents are ignored, perhaps cast off as being crackpots.
So ahead with the project goes the governing body. The people say no, but their elected officials don’t listen.
There is division in the town, never a good thing, but it happens all the time.
Then, at last, the idea is hatched using that powerful word “referendum.”
Flustered, officials may back pedal, but that’s rare. By the time things reach a point where the public is even considering a referendum, water is, literally, spilling over the dam of resentment.
Sadly, neighbors and friends align against each other. One sees virtue in the project; the other believes it an ultimate waste of tax money. Alienation grips the municipality.
Officials act as if they are wearing metal suits. They begin to view those who placed them in power as strident fools who know nothing.
Finally, it is Election Day. Votes are cast, as is the die for the town’s future. If the people are “successful”, the referendum may succeed and the project thwarted.
As an alternative, would it not have been better to do what makes a real politician and compromise? Elected officials are working with the tax money of the electorate, so why not listen to what they have to say? Are those men and women on the dais not placed there to represent the people?
Skillful diplomats are few in the hinterlands, thus we are relegated to use the equivalent of an atomic fly swatter that tool we call a referendum.
It would be a wise governing body that learned from others’ experiences about such lethal weapons, and learn the art of compromise and skill of listening to the people before it came to that troublesome initiative.
Elected officials will listen, smart ones before a referendum, others only after a referendum’s votes are tallied.