CAN WE AT LEAST HAVE HOPE?

I have watched what has been happening with the Beverly Hills Village Council over the last two years, and I’ve been very discouraged.  I’ve heard some Council members say repeatedly, that this Council does not want to “micromanage” the Village, but observed them doing exactly that.  

I’ve heard from employees of the Village that they very much enjoy serving the residents of Beverly Hills, but are now receiving a steady stream of e-mails from a few Council members demanding copies of various things, generally to second guess Council or Administration actions that have occurred months or even years earlier.  

When it comes to discussing these matters at a Council meeting these few often leave out critical information in order to discredit past actions by Council or Administration.

I’ve watched on TV, more times than I care to count, members questioning the authority of our Village Manager to act, even when he makes minor administrative decisions.  And, as much as anything else, I’ve seen and heard Council members decide what the Village CAN’T do or SHOULDN'T be doing.  Mostly this is attributed to a crisis need to reduce costs without regard to any facts or value to the Village residents as a whole.

We all know that local governments face increasingly difficult financial times, as we all do on occasion.  We all have to make choices, sometimes difficult choices, about how we cope with limited resources.  But we make our decisions and move forward in the best way that we can.  Those with a fixed income, still need the lawn cut, a broken window fixed, gutters cleaned, walls painted, snow shoveled, or any number of things.  These issues are addressed, and solutions are found, and we move on.  We have faith in our ability to confront difficulties and the confidence that we will deal with them.

What I hope to see, hope to hear, and hope to feel, is that our Council not only identifies difficulties, but have have the faith and confidence that they can confront and resolve them.  After all, government works best when it gets things done.  Certain members of this Council promote FEAR that all is in crisis, not the HOPE that gets things done.  These Council Members lack that basic ingredient to succeed, the ingredient of HOPE..

I’m not looking for a “free ride” or an “easy answer”, nor am I looking for declarations of crisis or blame.  What I want from my government is an innate, inherent, intrinsic, deeply-felt HOPE that we can confront any problem, and get something done.  It may not be perfect, but it is likely to be better than the alternative.

I don’t really think that that is too much to ask for.