On the importance of showing up

I don't know if you have ever been to a city or town council meeting or a school board meeting. If you haven't, make a point of attending a meeting at some point in your life. You probably won't thank me, but you will find it educational. I was at my city's board of directors meeting this past Tuesday. Most of the agenda was pretty cut and dry. I get the impression at most board of directors meetings in my city that much of the heat comes from the on-going fallout from a consent decree after the US government had finally had enough of my city's leaders at the time consistently failing to update a failing sewer system until it met federal regulations. Much of the heat on that set of issues is understandable, as there is a lot of frustration over the cost of decades of mismanagement from our elected leaders is being passed on to us. I feel the same frustration. I also know that the city just needs to get on with it and get the job done. 

This week, the heat was directed on a different issue: accepting a federal grant that would add solar to a low-income housing facility (and thus reducing electricity costs considerably for its residents who are mostly elderly or disabled), build some shared use alleyways that would effectively serve as new green spaces on the north side of the city, add some e-bikes for rental for those who want to take advantage, and add some much-needed electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. The grant brings in a little over $14 million for the projects it covers, with no cost to us. I like that we don't contribute any funds, get back some tax dollars that we've all given to the federal government, and we make the city more attractive and sustainable. There is organized opposition to this grant. An entity known as the River Valley City Elders planned to show up en masse to this city council meeting with the express purpose of defeating this potential grant for our community. Why? Based on the speakers who likely represented this group, some mishmash of reasons having to do with some UN conspiracy, allegations against the City Director (apparently easily debunked), communism (federal grants are apparently some sort of Marxian plot), and a lot of concern trolling about the consent decree that has bugged all of us for about a decade now. Those who wanted this grant to move forward also spoke and had a consistent message centered on the financial windfall to the city, the benefits for low-income residents and especially the oft-neglected north side of the city, the need for EV charging stations as EV ownership is only going to grow even here, and contributing to creating a sustainable environment and sustainable community. The final vote by the city directors was 4 to 3 in favor of moving forward with this grant. There is a final vote on December 3. The margin was a bit close for comfort. I would have expected more of a 5-2 split. 

I don't know how locked into a decision on this grant each member of the board of directors was, to be honest. I can't read minds, after all. If there was someone on the fence, a gut-level reading of the mood of the constituents who just happened to show up may have well made the difference. In this case, those of us who wanted this grant to go forward outnumbered the City Elders group. That bunch could be loud, but we were louder just due to sheer numbers. For now, we've won the day. My city, which rarely gets to have nice things, will get some nice things. This is what democracy looks like. People like you or me show up and make our presence felt, and in the process keep those local leaders honest (relative to what I expect of politicians). I have retired friends who go to all of these meetings and study sessions. That's how I know that something is on the horizon and I need to show up. 

This is also a reminder that national politics seeps into what are otherwise local matters. I am one small blue dot in a city that is very light-red, and the animus to any Democratic Presidential administration is high. The hostility toward Biden is palpable here, even as I find that hostility irrational and displaced. Any monies from the federal government are looked at with suspicion. Anything "green" is viewed as some sort of scam, and although climate denialism has largely followed out of fashion here, there are still some true believers who never let us forget it. So a simple federal grant has to withstand whatever moral panics and culture wars are going on at any given time. That's our shared reality. The good news is that this grant did withstand those headwinds. It did so with motivated citizens willing to show up. 

So....just show up.