RE: Summer thoughts on Moscow governance

["Shahab Mesbah" <meteor2@moscow.com>]

I agree with much of this but you are assuming that the decisions are made by elected officials… this in fact is not the case! Sure you have the figure heads who put on a show… you even have a few dedicated people on the city council… but the one who controls the information controls the outcome and the controller of information is nearly always not an elected official.

 

“Your brother in arms”,

 

Shahab…

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Archie [mailto:archie@moscow.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 8:30 PM
To: vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Re: Summer thoughts on Moscow governance

 

Why does the government spend billions on roads every year and then want the railroads to "pay for themselves"?  Who paid for the dams, which forced many families to leave their homes when the water rose (mine included)?  I think the answer is simple.  GM has a powerful lobby, railroad passengers are not well heeled.  Corporate farmers elect the officials who claim to protect family farms, while putting them out of business with many policies.  Thus, the freeway system has been justified as a military transport system, while railroads, tremendously more effective in moving troops, are dismantled.  Native fish are sacrificed to corporate greed while our heritage goes down the drain.

 

Who pays to finance the campaigns of our city leaders?  If locals make the contributions, locals have the ear of the officials.  This is often the case, in my opinion.  The higher the office, the less influence the general public has on the outcome.  It's not enough to leave a bequest to the city "for youth".  It might be better to finance a few election campaigns.