This morning, I met with other Democratic candidates running for the County Board for a press conference on the steps of the County government complex in Wheaton. Although only one reporter showed up, I think we all made a good impression, and left the message we wanted to leave with him.
Democrats don’t run in DuPage County to be rabble-rousers, to poke a finger in the eye of the establishment, or to be a fly in the soup of the Republican Party. Democrats run because we believe in true and constructive change for the better in our government – at all levels. Personally, I feel that the caliber of the folks we’ve got running for the Board is a statement on the broad appeal the movement for change has become. We have an attorney and a real estate agent, we have a professor and a student, we have veterans and we have civil servants. The people running for the Board aren’t just going to diversify the partisan makeup of the Board, should they be elected. They will also diversify the ideological makeup of the Board, and its experiential makeup. Citizens of DuPage will benefit from the broad range of life experiences our candidates bring to the offices they will hold.
I’ll be sure to post a link to any articles that may arise from our press conference.
After all was said and done, we got some refreshment in the cafeteria inside the County building, then some of us went to the meeting of the Board. I got the impression, from watching the proceedings, that a lot of work must be done behind-the-scenes, or in committee, before it ever reaches the floor for an up-or-down vote. In today’s meeting, the vast majority of those votes were “up.” In fact, there was only one “nay” vote cast during the whole operation. It felt, to me, like a race. Chairman Schillerstrom and the Board were going through the motions of Robert’s Rules of Order in a rapid-fire manner, as if they all had something very pressing to get back to that they couldn’t afford the time on any sort of substantive discussion on the floor. Resolutions were lumped together into single votes, some were even waived from going through a first reading. It struck me like the functioning of a Rube Goldberg machine. Every part flawlessly meshed together to form a speedy and efficient whole, but in the end, I wasn’t really sure what had been accomplished.
Efficiency in government is a good thing, unless it reduces the actual service level of that government. If the Board was eager to get through its business and enjoy the breezy spring day outside, I could understand. The problem is… this is government. I would gladly sit through a two-hour deliberation on an appropriations bill if it meant that I was doing my job correctly. What’s more, the level of public interaction at the meeting was minimal. The Board allots a half-hour for citizens to speak. Three speakers rose to take advantage of this – the first was from Darien School District 61, and the other two were attorneys speaking in favor of a resolution. I’m not certain if these speakers came on their own volition, or if they were recruited by a member of the Board.
Personally, I know there’s a citizen out there who, if he or she knew what was going on, might have a thing or two to say about any number of the resolutions being pushed through. And I feel it would be my duty as their representative to have those opinions heard, either directly from them, or through me. The purpose of any meeting of the full Board should not be to rubber-stamp the decisions made in committee. The Chairman should wield a gavel, not an ink-blotter. Discussion should be held, negotiation should be made, consensus should be formed among the whole. It may not be as quick as the way it’s currently done, but it will ensure that the resolutions passed are on the books with the confidence of the electorate who formed the government to create them.
I’ll cut the Board some slack this time, but on May 27th, they will be holding an evening meeting – a rarity in itself. Perhaps then, with the day drawing to a close, they will be more relaxed and able to exercise the full breadth of their mandate. Or perhaps, with a larger public turnout, they will be more anxious to finish their business and adjourn. We’ll see.
