Who says you can’t fight city hall? For whatever the reason and it’s been happening for years, anytime I happen to channel surf past a community access channel running any sort of town meeting, I am immediately transformed into that moth glued to the proverbial flame. With the arrogance of Washington D.C. and a twist of Monty Python, this is perhaps the most underrated reality programming available today.
David Currier, newly elected to the board of health, years ago donned the metaphorical SCUBA gear and navigated the murky waters of town politics snarled with red tape and grandfather clauses to upgrade a town fixture, the bowling alley, to include a restaurant and bar. We know the story and to paraphrase, everyone was in support save for a few stuffed shirts, or perhaps genuine sons of bitches, yet after the flames burned out on the hoops leapt through by David he was apparently moved enough to jump in the race and perhaps smooth the process for future businesses.
Apparently no one made the board aware that the town had recently gotten away from documenting these high powered meetings with microfiche and had instead forged ahead into a brave new world of technology where videotaping had become the norm.
Enter Augusta McKusick and Job Taylor III; apparently still reeling from being bested by a determined business owner who had the unmitigated nerve to work within the framework of the town’s laws and stipulations simply to realize his goal, couldn’t help themselves in what would be David’s first meeting where a potential conflict of interest regarding an area restaurant prompted the old guard to ask David whether or not he planned to recues himself. Explaining that he owned a bowling alley, David eventually relented when it was demanded he leave the room but not before being branded a son of a bitch. Several reports from those present claim that an “I’ll get him” was also thrown in for good measure.
Pompous arrogance and outright lunacy was quickly snuffed out as dozens of area residents and business owners pressured Selectmen to reprimand McKusick and Taylor which thus far appears to have resulted in a resignation submitted by McKusick.
Somewhere along the line, perhaps prior to my 44 years on this planet, politics at virtually every level have conveniently forgotten or more likely intentionally discarded the notion of public servant. Whoever wears the son of a bitch hat in this farce is certainly subject to individual opinion but the bigger story is that when the public servants that presumably serve the people abuse the role, once and a while the serfs just might speak out and make a difference. I’ve been watching this dynamic with increased scrutiny now for several years and the shift is most encouraging. Fresh eyes and those who have yet to become drunk on some self perceived position of power can only streamline processes for the good of residents and business owners in any town. Time to lose the annual rubber stamping at the polls and if this isn’t indicative of an individual’s ability to make a difference, I’m not sure what is.
As a lifelong resident of the outer Cape I was the third generation to pick up the mantel in the family construction business. In my early twenties, I called the Cape my home on weekends as I spent several years working for a variety of off-Cape commercial construction companies. My site supervision resume includes two supermarkets, two HUD projects, a funeral home and a handful of steel industrial buildings as well as various restaurant and office remodels.