Viewpoints
Consolidation: We All
Owe Thanks To Rodney Dial
By Dave Person
November 07, 2006
Tuesday AM
I want to express my thanks and admiration to Mr. Dial and his
family for working to inform citizens about the consequences
of consolidation. Whether you agree with Mr. Dial or not, we
all owe him for providing detailed information and a very important
perspective. Public-spirited people like Mr. Dial are the "stuff"
that democracies are built on. With respect to the vote on consolidation,
I keep thinking about James Madison's arguments in the Federalist
Papers concerning factions and republics. Conventional wisdom
in the late 1700s said that strife between factions always destroyed
democracies and republics. Madison turned that idea on its head
and argued that factions could act as checks and balances on
government corruption and oppression. As long as no single group
became all powerful, each would prevent the other from abusing
authority. Government may not be efficient but that is the price
we pay for government that actually represents the people that
empower it. The supporters of consolidation claim it will make
Ketchikan Municipal government more efficient by removing disagreements
between separate borough and city governments. Considering the
direction the new municipal government is likely to try to take
us, I have no desire to enable them to be more efficient. We
will end up giving more power to the same old incompetent players.
Dave Person
Ketchikan, AK
Received November 06, 2006 - Published November 07, 2006
About: Resident of Ketchikan and research scientist ...
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