Democracy Inaction

This post started as a comment to an entry on another site, which is linked below. But, I just couldn't help but expand on the issue after it lingered in my mind for a few hours.

The Delaware News Journal publish an article here yesterday that outlined some of the work of the Leadership in Education Action (LEAD) Committee, which is seeking to change the way that Delaware schools are funded and adjust their finances. Delaware Politics posted here in defense of the current system of referendum, saying:

I favor the right of the people to have oversight over their property taxes. More importantly, I favor the right of referendum more broadly. Referendum is an expression of the basic right of the people to alter their form of government...We need the ability to bring active oversight from the people into the process. The best mechanism is the power of the ballot.

I seriously disagree with this view, and a quick lesson in the American democratic system will tell you why. The school district system of governance in Delaware is unique among any others in the state and for only one reason: referendum overuse. The result of this deficiency is limited public participation and deficient political representation. School district residents do not go to public meeting, do not read-up on the issues (including budgets), and do not provide the necessary level of input to the board members who represent them. Lastly, almost no one votes in school board elections (comparatively speaking), so potentially under-qualified people become board members end up making decisions "on the fly."

The US and our state was established as a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. I believe referendums have their place, like in circumstances that would put our schools at risk (e.g., a large bond issue that was more than half the value of the district's assets). We need to take more responsibility for getting very able people elected to the school board who can make good decisions and are well-informed about the way our school do and should function. Then, we needn't worry about whether or not they poll us every time they need to adjust their finances. This system would be no different that the cities, counties, the state, and even neighborhood civic associations, all of which share this same financial flexibility.

The current system of public education in Delaware does not seem to work and seems to continue to fall in quality and number of available each year (I am sure that there are plenty of exceptions to this, but I'm just making an opinion-based observation, here, ok?). The root cause is a rambling domino-effect of problems. I believe all this can be traced to jaded, unenthusiastic, and discouraged political leadership in the school board. Many of these leaders run unopposed in under-attended elections for a governing body to which no one pays attention. These elections and board meetings are largely ignored by citizens because of their relative and seeming unimportance in contrast to budget referendums, which are seen as the ultimate "choke-chain" on a system that we see as a "misbehaving dog." Referendums are voted down over and over again until a critical point of crisis is reached. I believe we are at this very point of crisis, and there is but one solution: let. democracy. work.

If we would just let the representative democratic system work as it should, we could have the peace of mind knowing that the best possible leaders are in place making the best possible decisions about administration and finance of the schools on our behalf. Then, maybe we'll realize that is is we who are the "misbehaving dog" pulling the choke-chain on the collar of our suffocating master who is vital to our own survival and that of our kids...er...pups...ummm...never mind, you get the analogy.

It is certainly hard for anyone to let go of power, especially the power over money that we see as ultimately "mine." If we could just let go (maybe with a provision for the new system to sunset and revert back in five years if it doesn't work) and give away the power to control "our" money to leaders who we choose very carefully and deliberately, who are undoubtedly able and can be trusted, I think we'll become increasingly satisfied with the quality of our schools and the great job such a group of leaders can do without the uninformed public leash of the referendum slowly choking them to the doom of vouchers and an increasing majority of private-school students.

Delaware, Then

From the Delaware State Archives, this is an image of Second Street in Lewes sometime before 1900. I really like the awnings that went right out to the edge of the street...people could window-shop in the shade! Ingenious! Why don't we have that now? Oh....right...the mall.

Extra Credit

The New York Times reported here (you may need to register to see it) that the costs of college are rising too high for the average American family.

The story caught the attention of The Delaware Libertarian, which posted a story about it here. Here's a little snippet of what they said:

"Ultimately each individual is responsible for their own higher education. But it should never be beyond reach for anyone willing to apply themselves and work hard."

While I would agree with that statement to a point, I think that it is important to focus on the real problem at the center of this issue: America has a worsening obsession with college and it's causing irreparable damage to our nation and our economy. A half-century ago, very few people went to college straight out of high school. The American economy of the 1940s and 1950s depended upon well-educated, well-skilled young adults coming almost completely out of a public educational system who could then learn (usually on the job) how to make, fix, install, and construct almost everything imaginable. Those who did go to college did so with a clear understanding of why they were there and exactly what they would do when they got out. They became the engineers, the architects, the teachers, and the research and development scientists who made the decisions and plans that were carried out by the massive numbers of skilled hands coming out of the well-organized systems of community public schools. Was it an elitist pyramid? Yes, certainly. Did it work? You bet your iPod it did!

Today we have almost two entire generations of Van Wilders, a teeming workforce that casually saunters into the "real world" not from high school after twelve or thirteen years of purposive schooling, but from sixteen to twenty years of sub-par and unfocused academic underachievement. The result is a nation of mostly inept managers who have a very limited supply of skilled workers to follow their doltish instructions and bring about their myopic plans.

Now, without a doubt, there are plenty of students who buck this trend and truly make something of their time in college. Typically, though, these students unnecessarily end up in graduate school as a way to stand out from the crowd of average college grads and the American economy doesn't get the grace of their work and skill until they are more than 25 years old. I was, admittedly, a part of this very problem. By that time, their bumbling peers have managed to scrounge up enough "professional work experience" to land ahead of these people in the corporate game of life and end up "middle managing" the creativity and innovation right out of our last hope for global economic dominance.

The concept of equal opportunity, or equity, is a fundamental and necessary one as a truly free society. Everyone should hold the same hope of achievement as an individual, regardless of his or her race, color, creed, or any other involuntary trait. That said, I'm not sure that the Bill of Rights actually says "the right to go to college, no matter one's grades or vocational goals (if any), shall not be abridged."

Really, though, we as an American people (and as parents of the next generations of Americans) need to recognize being "just a high school graduate" is truly alright and is not a bad thing for a person to be. In all this fretting over the costs of college, I see the very making of the economic crisis that lies right in our laps. We can't just all sell insurance to one another and expect that our economy will boom. We need and use things, not services, and some-where some-one has to make some-thing in order for our modern society to live. And if we want a bright and shiny future for our kids, that some-one had better be them.

Instead of a nation of Van Wilders, let's make a nation of Will Huntings: young, independent-minded blue-collar laborers who can, through their own hard work and the support of solid public systems (free libraries, free public schools) choose their own fate and be proud of their own daily successes, whether in the factory or in the white house.

Failing South-ward

I really like John Maxwell. For those of you who don't know him, he is a business writer akin to Harvey MacKay or John Wooden, but with a major emphasis on personal ethics and dignity. He literally wrote the book on modern business ethics, and I admire him for not being a part of the "greed is good" mentality that was birthed by his own generation.

in 2000, Mr. Maxwell wrote a book entitled Failing Forward, in which he emphasizes the importance of failures in the making of great personal and corporate success stories (If you missed it, check out J. K. Rowling's keynote address to Harvard this year on the same topic). In his book, Mr. Maxwell writes:

Every successful person is someone who failed, yet never regarded himself as a failure...I think it’s safe to say that all great achievers are given multiple reasons to believe they are failures. But in spite of that, they persevere. In the face of adversity, rejection, and failings, they continue believing in themselves and refuse to consider themselves failures.

It's a great concept and one that is certainly true of just about every great leader you can name. However (and this is my real point here), I'm not sure John Maxwell meant that convicted criminals should "try, try again" when they have freshly proven themselves irresponsible with public money, public trust, and political and administrative power.

Yes, it's true, ladies and gentleman of the slower counties, Mr. Tom Gordon of New Castle County has come to Dover. If you don't remember, Mr. Gordon was indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from his activities while County Executive in New Castle County. After a lengthy and expensive legal process (thanks NCC taxpayers) he eventually pleaded guilty only to lying on his taxes. Now, based on information here, Mr. Gordon has been hired as a leader in the new office of the State Insurance Commissioner, ironically heading-up the office's FRAUD unit!!! Is this a joke? Ok, ok, you got me. Now where's that hidden camera?

No? No joke. Ok, then, the rant continues...

Gordon's campaign manager actually said, "He made a mistake in the past, it was a misdemeanor. There comes a point when you just have to let go." Wait just a cotton-picking minute here. Let's be clear and have some facts out: He was convicted of a misdemeanor, but he was indicted for activities entirely more heinous. These activities included criminal racketeering and mail fraud, including forcing county employees to work on political activities. County police officers were allegedly even forced to drive pro-Gordon voters to the polls. Spin much, Ms. Campaign Manager?

So, now this mess has crept out of the north and right up into the laps of all of us Delawareans. I guess the old saying is true, crap does roll downhill.

...Without a Paddle

It seems as though Kent County and the City of Milford are in some deep doo-doo...literally. A broken sewer main or pump station leaked an estimated one million gallons (the earlier estimate was a half million gallons) of untreated wastewater into the Mispillion River today. The result? The river is closed. That's right, ladies and gentlemen...you don't have to go home, but you can't swim here. And I'm guessing you wouldn't want to, since the news coverage, found here, indicated that a lot of the waste came from the chicken processing facilities in the area.

Okay, all you Milford residents, say it with me...

BLECHH!!



UPDATE: The damage estimate was revised up this morning to 2 million gallons. Mi-SPILL-ion river, indeed!

Delaware, Then

I love the old pictures of our local cities and towns. Here, for your reminiscent enjoyment, is the old Sussex Hotel in Seaford.


Looking at this picture, I can almost hear the "Ah-Oooooo-Gahh!" of the old car horns. Does anyone know how that post in the center of the intersection controlled the traffic?

Isn't "Clean Coal" An Oxymoron?

The federal government today asked that the current EPA standard of not requiring fish protection devices at older power plants be upheld by the US Supreme Court. The News Journal picked up the AP story and published it this afternoon. The original can be found here, but a more detailed account of the issue is on CNN Money.

It seems that the EPA, until a court spanking last year, was allowing old coal-fired power plant to conduct their own cost-benefit analysis before deciding whether or not to implement changes and upgrades in accordance with federal clean water laws. Basically, the EPA was only forcing changes on plants that could prove that the changes would be good for business. The number of plants falling into that category? Zero.

Of the 554 older coal power plants that are at issue, one of the worst--according to the national Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and the Lewes-based Citizens for Clean Power (CCP)--is our own Indian River plant near Millsboro. That's it up there. In fact, these pro-environment groups have gone so far as to start an online petition calling for the plant's cleanup.

I don't know about the level of "dirtiness" of our local plant, but I certainly know that coal-fired power plants are a nasty business in general. They produce ash and slag that contains mercury and PCBs and other nasty chemicals that get concentrated in pits around the plant site and then leach into the soil and water. Ever wonder why you can't eat more than a few ounces of local catfish every year? Thank your neighborhood coal power plant for that one. The fine dust created when coal is burned also creates problems for people with athsma and COPD, and a 2004 study of coal-fired plants estimated that up to 24,000 people per year are given the gift of shorter lives as a result of fine particles around coal plants.

I know, I know, right now you're saying "But I like lights and TV and hot water! Can't we have a nice natural environment AND electricity?! Pretty please?"

Ok, maybe you didn't say the "pretty please" part.

Well, the current proposal by both the outgoing and incoming administrations is to phase in a new technology called "clean coal." What is it? Well, according to our handy-dandy Wikipedia:

Clean coal is an umbrella term and public relations term used to promote the use of coal as an energy source by emphasizing methods being developed to reduce its environmental impact. These efforts include chemically washing minerals and impurities from the coal, gasification (see also IGCC), treating the flue gases with steam to remove sulfur dioxide, and carbon capture and storage technologies to capture the carbon dioxide from the flue gas. These methods and the technology used are described as clean coal technology. Major politicians and the coal industry use the term "clean coal" to describe technologies designed to enhance both the efficiency and the environmental acceptability of coal extraction, preparation and use, with no specific quantitative limits on any emissions, particularly carbon dioxide.

So wow! We can have our coal and eat fish too! Or can we? The Wikipedia article goes on to say:

It has been estimated that commercial-scale clean-coal power stations (coal-burning power stations with carbon capture and sequestration) cannot be commercially viable and widely adopted before 2020 or 2025. This time frame is of concern to environmentalists because, according to the Stern report, there is an urgent need to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The concept of clean coal is said to be a solution to climate change and global warming by coal industry groups, while environmental groups maintain that it is greenwash, a public relations tactic that presents coal as having the potential to be an environmentally acceptable option. Greenpeace is a major opponent of the concept because emissions and wastes are not avoided, but are transferred from one waste stream to another.


If clean coal really isn't all that clean, then why is our incoming administration including it in its list of sustainable energy sources? I suppose that fact that it doesn't use foreign oil is a reason. I suspect, though, that this may be a safe bet on a final middle ground between the forces of "stay the course" and the forces of treehuggery, and politicians always like to point out how they were right all along...so including this among the list of greener things like wind and solar seems like a politically strategic move.

Ahhhh....politics. I understand. That's the game. But keep this in mind: while you all are playing your little Washington game, we're all getting cancer and emphysema, you jerks! How about you quit your smarmy "straight talk" for awhile and substitute a little straight action?