One Big Step

Last night was my kid's moon landing.

 

Barack Obama's voice woke both the wife and The Boy last night. No doubt, the energy of the spirited oratatory and the promise to lead (but not deliver by himself) change shook the floorboards upstairs, forcing them both to wake.

 

Or I had the volume a wee bit to high.

 

In any case, thanks to the power of DVR, we sat on the sofa watching all of Obama's brilliant acceptance speech. While the Mrs. and I were moved more than we'd expected, The Boy was attentive but drowsy and indifferent.

 

Still, I sat there knowing this is an historic night. Not only did I finally get the president that I actually wanted rather than the president I merely wanted more than the other guy, but we elected a man who isn't white isn't and protestant and doesn't look like most of us.

 

That isn't why I voted for him, but it's definitely a welcome by product.

 

One day I'll prod my kid, ask him if he remembers the night we sat on the couch and listened to the historic speech. I'm sure he'll smile a bit, humor me by telling me he does even though he was only three, and then think, "What's the big deal? Of course anyone can be president," just as I grew up three decades ago wondering, why the heck shouldn't we have been able to land on the moon.

Ugh

I could have taken a whupping, but this one just hurts.

But tonight is for celebrating.

What Debt Exclusion?

SO this is it. Tomorrow is the big day we'll finally get answers to so many questions (except perhaps why the schools are closed on election day when the kids don't even have to vote. Anyone?)

But one question that we'll never really know is what the heck happened the the debt exclusion campaign. For those who don't know, there is a question on tomorrow's ballot asking voters to permit the city to borrow up to $7.8 million. This money will be used to pay off some long-term debt and enable the city to actually prepare for unavoidable capital and budget expenses.

But where was the great debate? No doubt this was one of the weakest campaigns for a debt exclusion that I've ever witnessed, which is disappointing because I don't see how anyone who sees the question for the first time tomorrow will vote for a tax increase, even a temporary one.

To his credit, John Moak was out there. He held several meetings and hearings meeting with this group or that. By his estimation he spoke to 400-450 people, according to today's piece in the Daily News. But I'm not sure his time was well spent. He might have been well served to employ a bit of political might to assemble some allies who could speak to the question with a bit more passion. As he told the News today (can't find the link) he sought only to inform, not to sway.

That's too bad. The casual voter--who will likely be among those voting against this question tomorrow--doesn't attend hearings at the Firehouse. If we're lucky, they read the paper, and the coverage of this question has been weak. Today's paper contains only one of two longer articles on the debt exclusion question. I would have liked a little more coverage on what's a very important question.

(I also didn't post on this issue much at all, so I'll take a wee, wee bit of the blame.)

A few public officials have written letters to the editors arguing in favor of the question, but I would have hope the news would have done a little bit of polling of city council and school committee so we knew where our elected officials stand. (If that's been done let me know, perhaps I've just missed it.) But without the push of community groups--be it parents, business folk or even anti-tax types--the public dialog over these questions never gets off the ground.

What a shame. I thought the question was well thought out and presented the city with a nice opportunity to take a small short-term hit for a long-term gain.

I'm not ignorant to the financial mess around us, and I sympathize with those folks who feel they couldn't handle the $100-$150 a year in additional taxes. But I don't necessarily buy into the "now isn't a good time for a tax hike" argument put forth by the Daily News and others. In all my years of covering town politics, I've never heard anyone say "Now is a good time for a tax hike."

Bottom line, the proposal makes sense. Read the Daily News today. Go on the city's web site to review the material. Do a little research.

It's easy to assign the blame to public officials, the media, and community groups but the ultimate responsibility falls upon the voters. It's really up to us to hunt out the facts that tell us whether or not we think this is a good idea. We're the ones who will have to deal with the consequences in either case.

I'm voting for the debt exclusion, btw.