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Health & Fitness

On that Provisional Pink Slip for Ike Leggett

My previous posting (http://wheaton-md.patch.com/groups/mark-r-adelmans-blog/p/provisional-pink-slip-for-ike-leggett) generated some interesting comments, to which I have already responded - briefly - with a comment of my own.  But the comments of those others were sufficiently serious that they require a more detailed response.  Hence this follow-up posting, and the one that will come next. 

Here I respond to the comment of Mr. Hidalgo, who appears to be suggesting that I am not a supporter of democratic principles.   My next posting will deal with the request, from Chester C., for clarification of what responses (from Mr. Leggett) I deemed "inappropriate".

Anyone who knows me, or knows of my years of civic activism, is aware that I am a very strong supporter of the democratic process.  My actions as an officer of a local civic association demonstrated this - in particular my insistence that the by-laws of that association include, in essence, rules that impose "term limits" for officer positions.  [Explaining why I believe that action was so important would take a bit more space than seems justified here.]  After my terms in office were over I became a representative of the civic association to the Montgomery County Civic Federation (MCCF).  Because of my interest in public education (I am an academician - now retired - with a background in the biological sciences and in the education of "adult learners"), I became the Chair of the MCCF Education Committee and, as such, frequently testified (before the Board of Education and the County Council) and wrote articles about the problems facing MCPS.  [The text of almost all my testimonies and articles are available at http://www.educationalassistance.org/SpeakingOut.html]

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One frequent thread in my writings is the notion that, in a democracy, citizens vote to elect public officials.  And the citizens then have an obligation to watch what the elected officials do and let those officials know if and when the citizen believes the elected official is not doing his/her job properly.  It is not proper civil behavior to observe incorrect actions, say nothing, and then "vote the rascals out” at the next election.  My communications with Mr. Leggett were based on that premise.  I am not "a representative of the 1% who think they can subvert the democratic will of the majority with insider access and insider info".  Frankly, I have no idea what Mr. Hidalgo means by that phrase.  I do not represent anyone except myself.  I have no idea how many voters do/do not agree with me.  I have no insider access nor insider info; my access is the access that all citizens have to the officials they elect and the info I have is the info anyone has who reads newspapers, listens to newscasts, attends public meetings, and communicates with others. 

My previous brief reply to Mr. Hidalgo made it clear that I have no idea what he meant by "gentlemen farmers".  I live in the present and do not wish to "harken back" to the day when only a select few could participate in "our democracy".  As Mr. Hidalgo knows (or should know) our democracy is a representative democracy.  All citizens are supposedly equal and are encouraged to demand redress when they feel that any agent of the government, which they helped elect, has violated their constitutional rights.

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As Mr. Hidalgo knows (or should know), one of the reasons our forefathers fought the War for Independence was that they rejected parliamentary democracy - the form of democracy that the British still use.  And then our country fought a very bloody Civil War to ensure that all citizens were treated equally.  Unfortunately, although both of those wars are over, many of the issues over which we fought them have still not been resolved.  [But that would be the subject of an entirely different posting.]

I am delighted that Mr. Hidalgo and his "at least 51% of the County" are pleased with their "leader", will not be issuing him any pink slip, and will be making sure that Ike gets a promotion.  I wonder of course, what promotion that 51% has in mind; surely Mr. Hidalgo knows.  Does he also know that, while Mr. Leggett may have been elected by 51% of those who voted, at most 40-50% of all eligible voters actually voted (I may be slightly in error there).  In any case, Mr. Legget's mandate was 51% of all who voted, and that is very far from a mandate, in my mind.  It was provisional permission to assume a post and demonstrate that he could do the job.

In my mind - and in the minds of many others (probably somewhere between 1% and 51% of all voters) - Mr. Leggett has not done the job.  And, looking over the list of candidates who appear to be likely to be on the ballot, it is not obvious to me who can do the job.  Some may vote for Mr. Leggett because they feel he is doing a great job.  Others may vote for him because they regard him as the best choice they have available.  Still others may vote for him because they regard him as the lesser of all the evils.  And some may not vote at all, or may chose to write in a candidate - or to write in "none of the above".  My suggestion that we elect a group of people to hold the office of County Executive was only slightly facetious.  I have asked several other people about this possibility and am still researching whether it is legally possible and what legislation might be passed to make it possible.  It would of course be a "last ditch" effort.  But I believe that many would share my fear that we are already in a ditch and need to consider alternatives.  I believe it was Einstein who suggested that it was insane to keep doing the same thing (over and over) and expecting the result to be different.

In any case, I am grateful to Mr. Hidalgo for expressing his opinion.  Which is what I was doing.  And doing so in a way designed to provoke others to think about the quality of the job Mr. Leggett has been doing.  I would be quite happy to continue the discussion with Mr. Hidalgo.  In fact, we could have a debate.  Mr. Leggett could serve as moderator and all interested citizens would be encouraged to attend and ask thoughtful questions.

Of course, if we had such a debate, Mr. Hidalgo would be required to respond while standing at the podium.  He would not be able to "snipe from the back bench".  That is the British Way, not the American Way.

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