Editor:
Who are the people that fill our council seats? What do we know of them? Of their character? Of their motivation? Do they lead… or do they follow?
If we were to drop them on to the petri dish of time and analyze their public behavior for, say the last two decades, would we find what we thought we might?
These mortal souls, now elevated to be the keepers of our little Town and our safe haven herein, who are they in their private moments? Do we have a right to peer, even just under the surface, at their plans and schemes devised in the shadows of closed doors or the shady world of encryption?
We trust them to fix our roads, fund our public safety and honor and protect our traditions. Any of the mundane “no brainer” tasks on every Councilperson’s list in every little (or large) burg across this nation are essentially the same.
Frankly, it does not require them to be great iconic, charismatic leaders to accomplish these goals. How well they do at these primary goals is the base line of success for them. We simply cannot accept anything less than success in these endeavors.
It seems to me a faction of this group has lost sight of their primary function. They have, instead, lost endless cycles undermining and slowly destroying aspects of Moraga that form our character, small things that set us apart from ‘Everytown’ USA. The Rheem Center is simply too big and has attracted bottom scrapping discount houses. The iconic Rancho Laguna Park had proved for decades that off-lead dog use could reside symbiotically in the lovely bucolic setting. I believe a McDonalds will soon sour our facade and poison our young.
Do we want to be a rustic little college town, full of little shops and coffeehouses or become a locked-down, fenced-in junk-selling super mall full of big box monsters? Why is it we cannot fill some of our commercial space with low-impact technology incubators or the like? I believe the vision for Moraga has been twisted out of focus by a kind of self-serving arrogance in our leaders.
A good, but primary example, is the recent unceremonious disregard for the process of choosing our next Mayor. These changes to the historic and successful process of governance were not made out of necessity, but instead for base, personal and political reasons.
Mike Metcalf and Dave Trotter have my, and I believe the vast majority of the citizens of Moraga’s, best interest in mind as they go about their stewardship. The remainder of this Council behaves with more personal goals as their inspiration despite their thin rhetoric.
As November approaches, I appeal to our good citizens to take a good, objective look at what is taking place here. Change for change’s sake is bad political leadership. The glaring, practical needs of our Town and its citizens combined with a healthy respect for time tested tradition represent the kind of leadership we deserve and need.
Fritz Stoop
Moraga
