Politics vs Pragmatism in Government

damnant quod non intellegunt

Two weeks ago I met with a Manatee County Commissioner. The purpose of my meeting was to lobby the commissioner to seek alternative solutions to unpopular tall cell towers. I did not know what to expect when I entered the county commissioner's office.

I was greeted by a smiling affable young man who asked me to sit down. We spent a few minutes becoming acquainted about where we lived and both being or having been commissioners. I then began to talk about alternative technologies to cell towers. As we talked I presented the commissioner with several printed reports and informational materials. My presentation quickly became a discussion about cell phone reception and I soon realized that the commissioner already knew quite a bit about cell towers and the county's involvement in a cell tower litigation at Lakewood Ranch.

We talked about the fact that there are over 200,00 cell towers in America but that there are also over 300,000 Femtocells being used in homes throughout the country to improve cell phone indoor reception.

Our meeting lasted over 45 minutes. At the end of our meeting the commissioner informed me that he would ask his technical staff to research Lucent's LightRadio technology and that he would let me know what his staff learned.  

I left the meeting with the feeling that Manatee County has acquired another hard working intelligent commissioner, who is vitally interested in making the best possible decisions based on facts and knowledge. I will request meetings with several other county commissioners with the same expectations of discussing cell tower alternatives with pragmatic public servants more interested in optimal solutions than appeasing their friends or business interests at the expense of voters.

It takes a lot of effort to do the work that is required to gain a full understanding of the many complex issues that confront elected officials every month. However, not doing the work, and making decisions based solely on the votes of fellow officials, is a betrayal of public office. Too often uninformed decisions are made that adversely impact residents and entire communities, when a little honest work and an open mind could have resulted in policies that are win-win for everyone concerned.

How can anyone make an intelligent decision from a place of ignorance? It is one thing to not know what questions to ask, but in this day of Goggle one need only enter a few words and a wealth of information is immediately available. Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn. Making uninformed decisions is a disservice to the voters who placed in their elected officials with their trust and faith. From my meeting with a Manatee County commissioner I feel confident that he and his fellow county commissioners will do their best to make informed decisions.