Opinions

Does Foster's "Corruption" Assertion Amount to Elitism?

A recent blog post from Eric Johnson raises a thoughtful question regarding the implications of an assertion by the recently appointed Council member Larry Foster. Many of us were distrubed by these false assertions when they were made. But, Mr. Johnson seems to have put his finger on something. Is Mr. Foster "in all due respect" insulting the citizens of Decatur as not being able to self govern? Please read on at Mr. Johnson's essay. We have excerpted some of the most interesting portions here and the full essay is below as it appeared. Thanks Eric for permission to post your ideas here.

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I think Aristotle gives the answer in his discussion of oligarchies(basically the concept claims  those who gain power seek to retain that power and are reluctant to relinquish that power, many times at the expense of the greater majority)

I watched/listened to the last two [City Council] meetings and I am still consternated by Council man Foster's insistence that the Aldermanic form of city government is inherently corrupt.

I was appalled the first time he made his all inclusive indictment of a widely used, perfectly legitimate form of city government which has been used to the great benefit of many citizens Nationwide for decades. I thought perhaps he overstated his personal dislike of that system and merely chose his words poorly minus aforethought. My first impression of Councilman Foster's demeanor can be reduced to two words; officious and condescending.

I would ask Mr. Foster which of the more than one hundred and seventy aldermen/women [in downstate IL] are corrupt in his judgement? I would ask Mr. Foster if he is implying that all of those participating in public service using the aldermanic form in their communities are corrupt? If Mr. Foster has information regarding corrupt public servants, it is his legal duty to contact Law Enforcement. I would suggest Illinois Assistant A.G. Bruce Ratcliffe.

Mr. Fosters remarks resonate with elitism!

Further and continuing, following Mr. Foster's logic to it's illogical conclusion, ( and I hope he will correct me if I misstate the obvious?) should we presume that [if] Decatur [were] to change forms of City government to a form he(Foster) publicly claims is corrupt, should we then assume that Councilman Foster believes those Decatur citizen's who would participate in that system would be corrupt or corruptible by virtue of the nature of the system itself? Should we assume Mr. Foster believes only criminals would seek these positions in city government? Personally, I am offended by Mr. Foster's remarks and his insinuation that there are no qualified persons available for public office/service in our inner-city neighborhoods.

On my block alone live a retired librarian ,a school teacher, a small business owner  I don't know about anyone else but I find it a direct insult to the residents of Decatur to suggest no qualified persons live in Decatur's varied/diverse core neighborhoods. There are accountants, attorneys, postmen and women, nurses, pastors, librarians, small business owners and many other (more than qualified) civic minded citizen's who would jump at the chance to participate in local government .

It  simply and honestly comes down to whether our elected/appointed City Officials believe We the People are capable and intelligent enough to choose our form of City government by way of our fundamental right to vote and to participate in the form of government  We the People choose......or not?

I hope Councilman Foster will take this opportunity to reveal /clarify on which side of that simple equation he stands?

In favor of Aldermanic Representation

This comment was provided by Sue Barnhart who expressed this in a letter to the Decatur City Council on Jumy 4th, 2008:

I have the highest respect for each and every one of you and have never had any problems getting a response from any of you.   Still I believe strongly our current system has assisted in allowing the core of city to be ignored in regards to basic services that citizens should be able to expect from city government. By basic services I mean police protection of person and property, code enforcement, infrastructure upkeep and economic revitalization of blighted areas. And my regular travels to and throughout both Champaign and Bloomington tell me that those cities have done better with similar older areas.

I do not think a person has too live in area to care about it, but by the fact that you live in the vicinity you will tend to actually see more of it on a daily basis. Even more important is the fact that you are SPECIFICALLY CHARGED WITH IT’S REPRESENTATION - this I think MIGHT help.  The big picture is actually made of up of many smaller pictures.

I believe the neglect of these core areas has been going on for far too long and too severe to ignore. I watched this decay spread greatly during the last decade and have seen too little being done towards trying to retain and encourage current good residents and businesses.  To allow it to continue is disrespectful of the good citizens who have already invested in these areas and remained.  For that reason I believe we need to give something different a try.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or thoughts.  This opinion is in no way a personal criticism of any of you.  Thank you for your service.

Making Comments Here

This part of the ChangeDecatur blog is intended to have a public debate about the proposed local government reform. We will post topics and our point of view on improving local government. We will initially post several elements of our proposals and add a new topic each week. Comments will be lighty moderated. We will not tolerate personal or ad hominem attacks on anyone including current government leaders or other advocates of change or the status quo in Decatur. Make comments directly to the post or send us a comment via email.