Politics is about people’s expectations. The voters want certain basic things from elected officials. They want to feel like their voices are heard. They want city services provided in an efficient manner. They want government to be responsive to their needs.
The electorate wants people in power who can do all those things. They vote for those they perceive can best meet their justifiable expectations.
Lately, though, it seems like voters’ expectations have become outsized, bordering on the impossible. Voter anger is the result. But that comes as a natural result of wanting what you can’t get. Here are some examples.
Damned if you do
All winter long we heard the whining and complaining about the streets. Potholes that break axles. Sinkholes that swallow cars. The voice of the people was loud and clear. Fix the damn streets!
Now there are orange barrels all over town. Douglas Road is closed, Central Avenue is a nightmare. Bridges are down to one lane, major thoroughfares have become slalom courses.
Hey, T-Town, what did you expect? You thought mebbe the rough roads would just magically disappear without some inconvenience? A magic wand would be waved and the streets would suddenly be smoothed out?
Sorry, folks, you can’t complain about potholes and then whine about the road construction needed to fix ‘em. You expected the impossible.
Example numero dos. Mayor Paula HH. People complain that she isn’t dynamic. She’s too wonkish, muddling around in the bureaucratic details of her position. She hasn’t come through with pizzazz. She hasn’t had any breakthrough Big Ideas, focusing instead on what she calls “good governance.”
Hey, T-Town, what did you expect? Paula has spent a lifetime working as a bureaucrat. She was legislative aide to City Council, Director of the Board of Elections, and legal counsel in the state budget office. Her career has been spent deep in the bowels of government.
You thought mebbe she’d magically transform from stagehand to superstar overnight? She’s built her life on good governance. She isn’t about to change from wonk to shamwow anytime soon.
You get what you pay for
For good measure, one last example. With a couple outlier exceptions, Toledo City Council is a less-than-inspiring muddle of puddin’-heads. A bunch of retirees, some fuddy-duddies, and a couple of off-brand rejects. Several barely have high school educations, and many have little practical experience to bring to the task. The few that can swim with their heads above water are the rarity, lost in a sea of mediocrity.
Hey, T-Town, what did you expect? Council members are paid a pittance to operate a budget close to a billion dollars. Pay a part-time wage, get a part-time effort. Old folks and pensioners are mostly what you get.
Add to that the intense pressure, constant scrutiny, and impossible expectations, and it takes a special breed of masochist to seek elected office in the first place. You see the result. You should have expected it.
So there you have it, folks. Have unrealistic expectations, keep getting frustrated. There’s only one known cure.
Dose of reality, anyone?
