Why do folks get involved with governing? Often it is personal. They experience firsthand the effect government has on their daily lives. It is a development at Desisto or purchase of land in Interlaken. It is mixed zoning – propane distribution tanks and trucks or a landscaping business’s equipment on a residential block. It is discolored water, the absence of a sewer as the price of septic fields grows exponentially, or a lake that needs weeding and dredging. There is an outcome they dislike, or they fear there will be. They think, “no one is minding the store,” or “the fox is guarding the henhouse” so they run for office, volunteer for a committee, or start attending meetings.
Some folks get involved because they know what should be done. They do not consider other viewpoints. Those who disagree are not neighbors to be worked with; they are the opposition to be defeated.
Some enter governing for fun or fame or power. Some want to be popular.
A precious few enter politics to protect the government and the processes that in turn protect us all. They realize the fragility of what we rely upon.
Whatever the reason, if the process is observed, it all works out. It is a big, brawny system, carefully constructed, that can accommodate all. There is, however, a steep learning curve, and no substitute for learning the rules and the law.
We live in a representative democracy – a Republic – we vote to give away a part of our power to those who are meant to represent us. That is the underpinning, the rest is the dance. The most agile win, and everyone must learn the steps.
In the Reader to Reader section of this issue, more than a dozen letters, written to the Select Board (SB), Community Preservation Commission (CPC), Laurel Hill Association (LHA), and the Stockbridge Land Trust (SLT), are reprinted. All of the letters ask for help with the same problem – the potential development of a 35-acre property in Interlaken. For many this is not an Interlaken concern but a concern about the future of Stockbridge.
Only CPC offered support. The two nonprofits replied in the negative and their well-articulated rationales are also reprinted. The SB stood mute.
To end where this editorial started – I hope that means a lot of people will run for office – join committees – or just start attending meetings.
Carole Owens
Executive Editor