At one of the first Charter Study Commission meetings, I asked the commissioners to characterize Hillsborough and delineate some of its problems. Describing Hillsborough was easy - it is a suburban community with some semi-rural areas, and little commercial or industrial development. Defining the problems was harder.
I agree with one of the local newspapers that "there are no overwhelming problems facing the community that demand change". The problems that Hillsborough does face - notably development pressures and Route 206 traffic - won't be solved by changing from the Township Committee to the Mayor-Council form of government. And that's too bad.
I attended many Charter Study meetings, and watched the rest on video - and from the very beginning I have been looking for a reason to change. You would have to be a fool not to want to make your town, and your life, better. Lots of reasons were given for why a change is needed - "direct election of mayor", "checks and balances", "four year terms for mayor and council" - but those are merely consequences of voting yes, not reasons TO vote yes. I don't see how any of those things will make the town better, only different.
I have also been following the "Vote No" campaign. For a lot of voters, their statistics concerning the property tax increases in other towns that have changed are particularly compelling. For you skeptics, consider this: if there were any towns where property taxes went DOWN by 39% or 16% or even 2% after changing to Mayor-Council, don't you think you would have heard about it by now?
The Mayor-Council form of government is a more complex form that undoubtedly works best for more complex towns. It allows the mayor to do things that we don't need to be done, and forbids the council from doing things that we have come to expect. It's not right for us.
I'm voting no on Question 5. This is not a vote against the work of the Charter Study Commission, or even a vote against Mayor-Council, but rather a vote to preserve our simple form of government - one which is small and close to the people. A government that isn't broken, and that is working every day for our community.
And if you're wondering about the title of this blog - this is my 100th blog entry for On Hillsborough, and I wanted to work in the number 100 somewhere. You don't need 100 reasons to vote no, you just need one. Make it a good one.
See you at the polls.
Greg - while I don't agree with your decision, I think you presented a solid explanation for your thoughts, and actually a pretty compelling reason. I see where you say that the benefits are consequences, not reasons for a change.
ReplyDeleteThe place I differ is that I feel that a mayor who is directly elected by the people, (and I mean those words, not the cliche we are all so used to hearing) would generally be more directly accountable to those people. And less accountable to political forces.
No, we have no guarantee that we don't fall for and elect "a lemon." Nor does this eliminate political influences. We can only continue to vote in the most informed and responsible manner as we can, and hope we choose well. But I do feel that directly electing the mayor will help to reduce some "insider trading" so to speak.
Also, of all the testimony I heard, the one that struck me as the most compelling was that of Paul Drake's - where he brought out that an elected mayor serving consecutive years has a much more credible standing with the state and county, and is therefore in a better position to accomplish objectives.
Those are my reasons to favor change. Otherwise, I would agree with you - the sky is not falling at the moment. But the FORCE behind the "anti-change" folks does raise my suspicions of what I might be missing.
Last note - while I have generally found you to be more sincere and objective than most, you have also been belittling to me, in private and in public. I have respected your opinions and believed your sincerity behind those. I think you should afford me the same respect.
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ReplyDeleteValerie - a comment on your "last note". As for any public comments you think I have made about you, I would ask you to be cautious when ascribing those comments to me. There may be some individual(s) posting in the chat rooms that would like people to believe thay are me - and hey, if that is there plan to stay anonymous, that's o.k. with me.
ReplyDeleteAs for private comments - I do recall you stating that you were leaning one way on question 5 and I was leaning the other. My reply, and I thought it was rather clever, was that you were no longer leaning, you had fallen over. If you object to that sort of witticism, then I will gladly retract the comment and apologize - I'm sorry.
Yup - you got the rought part - apology accepted - thanks.
ReplyDelete