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Guest Commentary: On Ward Representation

by Bill Dusty

Former Springfield City Council candidate Victor Davila writes about ward representation in the city:

Springfield Intruder
For Public Dissemination

I find it baffling that there appeared to be a local state representative that is holding up ward representation on Beacon Hill. Of course, the Benedict Arnold of our time will not be forthcoming in admitting his/her opposition to ward representation or for the current ward representation plan. The City Council appears not to be in a rush either, as they have not even begun to add chairs to the City Council chambers. Their silence indicates that they hope the electorate will forget. As a former candidate I find disheartening the comments made, that those who did not win the election did not somehow work hard enough. I can tell you that I worked very hard with decent results. The current councilors have the power of the incumbency, which bring money and free press along with it. Tools that a challenger often times does not have, or at least not as fluidly as the incumbents. Time does not stop. Real issues, education, job development, decent wages, crime, among an array of others, keep affecting the minority communities and the disfranchised. The city councilors and school committee have proven that they cannot be any more effective; and I am being kind with my description. The only way that these real issues will start seeing some meaningful change is by having the local government be representative of the city’s population, and Ward Representation is the venue for it.

- Victor Davila

Posted by Bill Dusty on Oct 2nd, 2007 and filed under Cities & Towns, City Hall, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.