Two Wolves and a Lamb

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -- Benjamin Franklin

Handouts for Hippies is a term of endearment that outsiders use to describe Placer County Water Agency’s spendthrift ways whenever an enviro-charity passes the hat.  In my three years on the board, I have never seen PCWA turn down anyone who asked for a grant, handout, sponsorship or other goody.  Placer County Water Agency regularly pays one group to bus kids in from Sacramento County to learn about global warming and the environment, PCWA sponsors the Extreme Precipitation Symposium in Davis,California, and subsidizes the Calling Back the Salmon Festival in Lincoln.  To be fair, PCWA also writes taxpayer and ratepayer backed checks to Chambers of Commerce whose members aren’t traditionally hemp-wearing flower children.

I’m glad community service groups exist to promote things like responsible stewardship of the environment and to support local businesses.  Private charities are an important and valuable part of any community, but they ought to get their money from donations, which are voluntary gifts, rather than from taxes and water rates, which are collected by force.  Free people choose to donate to causes they deem worthy, just as they choose to buy products and services they value.  When a government appropriates basic decision-making power, that government becomes a dictatorship.  The actions of the current Placer County Water Agency Board of Directors reflect poorly on the agency in this regard. 

Prior to my election, requests for handouts never appeared on board agendas. One of my first actions was to have the individual items placed on our agenda so that each board member could have the chance to support or oppose each item.  They now appear on our consent agenda, so unless somebody present at our meeting requests the item be pulled for a separate vote, it is approved without discussion.  In my three years on the board I have pulled each and every one of these handouts from the consent agenda for discussion and a public vote.  In every single vote I have been alone in my opposition as well as my desire to discuss the issue.

I must be getting more crotchety and cynical, because this game is getting old. So at our last meeting when another request for cash was on the agenda I pulled it and gave this statement:

Every time one of these requests for grants or handouts or whatever you want to call them comes before our board I oppose it, and I am completely alone in my opposition.  There are many good causes, even great causes related to water.  But we, as a government body, have no business financially supporting good causes.  The money we give these groups comes out of the pockets of taxpayers and ratepayers.  It’s wrong for the federal government to subsidize pet projects or organizations well connected to politicians; it’s wrong for the state government to do so, and it’s wrong for local government to confiscate the money of its people to redistribute to good causes. 

I’m getting tired of pulling items from the consent agenda, and you all are probably tired of me doing it.  We clearly place a different value on freedom and liberty, and we obviously have a widely different view on the proper role of government.  In the future, rather than pull items like this handout to the chamber of commerce from the consent agenda to allow for unwanted discussion, I’ll vote no on the entire consent agenda to save us all the time and consternation.

The only discussion from another board member was, “You’re right, we have a different view on the role of government.” And then we had our usual four to one vote.

Advertisement