Why stay silent at your own town hall meeting?
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Image via Wikipedia
Tell me if I’m wrong, but as far as I understand it, the point of a town hall meeting is simple: average Joes get the rare chance to bring their concerns directly to politicians who are normally unreachable in the City Hall labyrinth. This — at least in theory — gives the pols the precious opportunity to respond to and engage in conversation with their constituents with the eyes of the city and local media watching, making a case to them all that perhaps they haven’t messed everything up as bad as everyone thinks, and that maybe they’re worth a reelection in the near future.
Let’s review: voters bitch, politicians respond. Showing you care = good PR.
So what’s the point of holding a town hall meeting if you won’t even respond? I’m betting that’s what a lot of frustrated Chicagoans are thinking this week, after attending a series of town hall meetings Mayor Daley held around Chicago. But other than stumping for an Olympic bid that more than a few Chicagoans still aren’t sold on, and not giving an expected apology for the parking meter privatization debacle, what did Da Mare really say? Not much, it seems.
At a “packed” Aug. 25 meeting on the South Side:
Carol Smith, an activist for the mentally ill, blasted the mayor for closing the decision to close mental health centers.
“Why should people who have mental health problems suffer because the administration screwed up?” she asked Daley. “I want an answer right now.”
Daley sat stone-faced for several seconds as many in the audience yelled for him to reply. Finally, the city budget director said the health commissioner, who sat at the front table with other members of Daley’s Cabinet, would address the question. But he did not immediately answer, and Smith walked from the microphone.
via Clout St: Daley hears critics on Olympics, budget, parking
And again, two days later at a meeting on the Northwest Side:
Rosemary Tirio said Northwest Side residents approved a referendum last November to increase their own property taxes to expand services at the North River Mental Health Center.
“Our people have spoken,” she said. “This is what we want and we’re willing to pay for it.”
Daley did not respond.
via Clout St: Daley faces public at third town hall meeting.
Both articles say that mayoral aides later approached people individually to quietly discuss concerns, but when a city’s leader seems so “stone-faced” to the people to whom he is beholden, what kind of message does that send? Purely in terms of strategy, keeping mum and sending aides to apologize later seems like an unwise approach — why trade in the chance to capitalize on the moment and defend the administration for silence that reads as unresponsive and unconcerned?
Maybe Mayor Daley does really care about the state of Chicago’s mental health facilities, but in stonewalling constituents, he blew the opportunity show it. Now he’s got to face the negative publicity as a result, and the 99.99999% of Chicagoans who didn’t get a one-on-one chat with a mayoral aide still doesn’t have their answer.
Because when politicians stop talking at a public hearing, what is the public really hearing?
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
We call this The Chicago Way.
That’s a good point, Laura, and in a sense, it’s what irks me the most. Having grown up in a different state with a political culture completely unlike Chicago’s, I suppose I’m able to look at stories like this with an outsider’s perspective and really see just how nonsensical and outrageous politics here can sometimes be.
In contrast, I’ve had friends who grew up in Chicagoland tell me that political ineptitude and corruption seem normal to them because they’re all too common, and that they don’t really get outraged at bad government any more because they feel powerless to change it. To me, that’s a really scary attitude for citizens in a democracy to have. I see from your profile that you went to CPS schools, so I’m guessing you’ve lived here longer than I have. Have you ever run across this kind of attitude among other Chicagoans? And what do you think about it?
In response to another comment. See in context »Having been to a lot of public hearings at which politicians move their lips and make sounds without actually committing any sense, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that at these public hearings, the public did the talking and Da Mare did the listening.
I’ve actually been to public hearings where the people on the podium were sleeping. I was going to make a joke here, but as I read it back over it doesn’t seem to be at all funny…
Hey Leeann, just saw your question.
On behalf of native Chicagoans, I can say with a good degree of certainty that yes, we are all used to the corruption. It’s just white noise.
But, the level of ineptitude has made a few, like me, wake up. Fixing it is another story. I just hope to spread the word and get people riled up enough to make some changes. Maybe even vote. That’s why I’m blogging at True/Slant.
Then we have the same goal. Newbie that I am to the city, I truly love Chicago when it’s at its best and am willing to speak out for it. Let’s go rattle some cages!
In response to another comment. See in context »