Editor,
I attended my first City Council meeting on March 6. I was eager to see government in action and all those other naive ideas. While I'm sure that the City Council is responsible for many good things, I was appalled to witness firsthand evidence of the chief complaint of most people regarding government - namely, that it is completely out of touch with the people that it is supposed to represent.
This was most obvious during the general public comments section of the meeting. I do not understand firsthand the immense amount of work that presumably goes into the making of City Council ordinances and resolutions, but I do find it unconscionable that multiple city councilors found it acceptable to be absent from their seats during the general public comments.
The purpose of a democratic government is to serve and represent the people. How can city councilors serve or represent the people when they do not have the ability or even the common courtesy to listen to them?
I don't believe that I'm completely naive. I understand that Don Schrader's apricot tree and eight gallons a day water usage are not necessarily the stuff of public policy, but it looks - and in fact is - disgraceful to see our government representatives so nonchalantly dismissing the ideas and opinions of those they are supposed to represent.
I assume many of the councilors conspicuously absent during the general public comments were diligently working to shore up the amendments to R-06-18. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and also assume that they truly believe this resolution to be in the best interests of the people whom they were elected to represent. The majority of the discussion concerning R-06-18 centered on a request for $250,000.
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It's easy for the cynic to come away with the impression that money talks and Average Joe Citizen walks. Perhaps even worse than those councilors who were not seated during the public comments were those councilors who were observed whispering to their neighbor, giggling and waving to their friends in attendance or gazing emptily around the room.
I mean no disrespect by this letter to the city councilors. I mean only to relay the impressions of a citizen that they represent. I plan to attend more City Council meetings and hopefully other governmental proceedings as well. I feel it is my responsibility, as a citizen, to keep myself informed and to voice my opinion to my representatives. I only hope the representatives can find the time in their busy schedules to listen.
I also urge the citizens of Albuquerque to attend the next City Council meeting, and observe your councilors in action.
Albuquerque is home to about 500,000 people. About 30 showed up at the council meeting I attended. If the governed take this little interest in their representation, it is quite understandable how the governors would show them such disrespect.
This would be more difficult to do if we as citizens would take an active interest in our government; if we were to hold our representatives accountable and make them take notice of us.
Chris Billos
UNM student
