Man About Canton: Voter Apathy
By Joe DeFeliceDID YOU KNOW …
While it is true that the incumbents have generally done a credible job, the need for competition is obvious as the lack of political competition is not healthy in a democracy. Plenty of people complain about government, but apparently they do not want to step forward to do something about it.
This year, the recurring voter apathy we have been seeing in low voter turnouts now seems to be matched by candidate apathy. There are a number of factors and/or excuses leading to candidate and voter apathy in today’s world, including second jobs, spouses who work, children and children’s activities, ability to raise money for a campaign, and unwanted scrutiny of personal life, all of which lead up to “let someone else do the job.” It is not just the elected positions; appointed boards in Canton are also lacking candidates. Canton residents are leaving the job of government and managing town affairs to “someone else,” and that is too bad.
Selectmen recently read a sizable list of upcoming vacancies on town boards and urged any residents interested in serving to contact the selectmen’s office. They include single vacancies on the Beautification Commission, Conservation Commission, Green Team, Economic Development Commission, Playground and Recreation Commission, Route 138 Study Committee, Veterans Council, and the Commission on Disability; two vacancies each on the Cable Advisory and Fair Housing committees; three vacancies on the Water Resources Council and Health Insurance Committee; four vacancies on the Registrars of Voters and Water-Sewer Study Committee; and five open seats on the Master Plan Monitoring Committee.
Are there any budding politicians in Canton? If there are, get involved. You are needed in Canton!
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is proposing a 3.9 percent hike in the price of water and sewer service next year. Canton, which receives about 90 percent of its water from the MWRA, will see an increase of approximately $17 in its annual bill for individual households.
In his State of the Union speech, President Obama called on every state to require students to stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18. Currently, most states do not require this. Massachusetts has a dropout age of 16. Dropouts make up 70 percent of Massachusetts’s jail and prison population. The graduation rate in the city of Boston is 64 percent.
One of the key features in the recently passed Pension Reform Bill (Chapter 176) will prohibit employees who are hired in Group 1, which includes most public employees and teachers, on or after April 2 from retiring before they are at least age 60. This significantly differs from the current law, which allows Group 1 employees to retire at age 55 (with 10 years of service) and before that age with 20 or more years of service.
Because Napoleon believed that armies “marched on their stomachs,” he offered a prize in 1795 for a practical way of preserving food. A French inventor, Nicolas Appert, who devised “canning,” won the prize. It was the beginning of the canned food industry of today.
Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same.
This is all for now folks. See you next week.
Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=12124
Posted by Joe DeFelice
on Mar 7 2012. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion.
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