Hello Ward 3 and Westfield
A bit late but…from the last City Council Meeting: First I gave great praise to Dave Billips and his DPW for the great job being done on Franklin Ave., and I am proud to say a street that I had chosen to be a street to be done by our DPW, without our side help, thus less expensive. Mr. Billips is forever coming up with cost savings operations that do a great job for the residents of Westfield, and for our tax payers. Next, congrats went to Sgt. Eric Hall and the start up our new Community Policing Sub-station on Elm St. Sgt. Hall is dedicated to making policing more than arresting and giving tickets, but also has a problem solving mission that reduces crime, and the expenses of policing. If you can resolve a problem, or solve a crime before it happens, there is no victim, no court costs, etc. And, I am also proud to be asked to be a volunteer (p-t), using my experiences as a Neighborhood Facilitator, when I worked for the Community Partnership for a Drug Free Chicopee, and helped set up one of the first citizen based Night Out Against Crime projects in our region.
Next the meeting itself: Of course much of it had to do with the city budget. I am glad to see the Council pass the mayor’s request for the increase in the Hotel Tax. We have to get creative to fund projects and to keep our taxes reasonable. I was somewhat confused by the reaction to the increase in the meals tax. We are talking about ¾ of one penny on a dollar tax. NOT even one penny of an increase. I understand that there are those who object to any tax increases what so ever, but our reality is that costs keep going up. We depend a great deal on the private sector to provide for our goods and services, and they do not give a break to the tax payers. In fact, as with everything, their cost to us keep going up. That is our real reality. And, another real reality is that we are responsible to maintain, and upgrade the conditions and necessities of our communities. Many of us have seen fine and productive communities go down the tubes when that does not happen, and the cost of recovery get ginormous. Better to pay to repair the roof than to much more when it crashes down on us. But, there was way too much theatre over ¾ of a penny. “Oh the poor blue collar worker won’t even be able to buy a cup of coffee;” give me a break. Or, in that the Commonwealth collects these taxes for us, What if the “government” doesn’t give us our money back….You’ve got to be kidding.
Can I share a pet peeve? There a few overly misused terms that I really find irksome, and the use of the term government in the pejorative is at the top of my list. It denies that we are the government, and it is our responsibility to be as involved in it as possible. And, it only serves to discourage people from participation. It send the message that it is a different caste/class that we do not, and cannot participate in. This is not the Old World where social/economic class determined if you could vote, seek office, or had any say in the decision making. This is NOT 17th Europe. Get over it. The other two are “I deserve….” and “I have a Right to do whatever I want…I have Freedoms” even if it adversely impacts others, but no one else has a Right to do anything that I don’t like. And, too often without earning the “Rights” you claim. Our city, our state, and, our nation, are our responsibility. We hire those to represent us, and to manage our public interests, assets, and resources. Not just for me, but the many in our city, our state and in our nation. One of America’s Exceptionalism is that we have always been a pluralistic nation, with a diversity of different social and economic interests, investments, and operating principles.
Sorry for the preaching, but that is what divides American and pits one American against the other, and opens us up to be used and myth-lead and mislead to our own detriment. Remember what Ben Franklin said at the Constitutional Convention; to paraphrase: …put aside your personal ambitions, and self-interests, for while this document is imperfect, it is the best we could come up with, and be aware that off our shores are those who await us to fail…
Again thank you for your time…Your feedback is more than wanted and appreciated….Brian Hoose, [email protected]
