Everything that's wrong with government can be summarized by a single sign that stands eloquently at the entrance to my neighborhood park. A plot of green with tennis courts and soccer fields for athletes and playground paraphernalia for junior swingers. I mean the kind that really like to swing. Cursed with a civic attitude that makes me wary of gifts from politicians, I note A boastful sign. "This playground made possible by the city of Huntsville and the Madison County Commission," it says. Not a blatant lie - just a fuzzy deception. About as far from the truth as the mayor's office downtown is from this suburban playground.
I think it's the tone of our "governors" (using the word in a literal sense) that bothers me. Their proclamations of achievement. They are ignoring the contribution of me and my fellow taxpayers to this oasis. They forget that we are a society of the taxpayers, by the taxpayers and for the taxpayers.
The sign has it wrong. These few acres of athletic fields and tree-shaded green are "made possible" by three entities: 1) First and foremost, the creator of planet earth and its celestial companions. He instituted the natural laws that resulted in trees and grass; and sunny days to enjoy them. 2) Next, the taxpayers of Huntsville, who came up with bucks to make the sandpile, install the playground equipment, and carve a tennis court out of a grassy field. 3) Then there's the construction contractor (who we hope is no kin to the mayor) paid by us. His men and machines did the actual work. Yes, the mayor, the city council, the parks and playground department signed some papers, but not one used a shovel to remove the sod and lay down the surface of the tennis court.
And the Madison County Commission (MCC) doesn't drive a fleet of lawn mowers that periodically neatens up the soccer field. Not a single member of the MCC, who on this serene Sunday morning are still abed, has ever cut this field.
A more truthful sign would, shortly and sweetly state: "Paid for by the taxpayers of Huntsville". It would remind all of us, government and governed, of our proper roles in the civic scheme of things. Of course, it still ignores you know who, the Mayor, But what's that old aphorism about fools faces and public places? He/she should never be mentioned on a public sign in a public place.
