| Government Running Roughshod By Jim Correale (Published in the East Boston Sun Transcript on June 22, 2001.) I believe that I have detected a disturbing trend. Exhibit #1: The people of America vote to choose a certain individual as president. The government (in this case, the Supreme Court) steps in to nullify the people's choice, and his opponent is deemed the winner of the election. Exhibit #2: The people of Massachusetts vote for clean election laws. The government (in this case, the state legislature) steps in to tinker with the approved ballot question in order that their lucrative seats may be protected. Exhibit #3: The people of Greater Boston vehemently oppose the construction of a new runway at Logan Airport. The government (Massport, the FAA, the governor�take your pick) bulldozes forward with the plan anyway. This is most disturbing. Have we, the citizenry of this country, become so complacent and apathetic at every level that the wealthy and powerful need not think twice about disregarding our wishes? (Wishes? In the case of clean elections we gave a direct order, to which House Speaker Tom Finneran and his minions responded, loudly and to our faces, "No!") We make much of our democracy in America, but how democratic is it when elected officials ignore the will of the people and, at the same time, forcibly keep in place a skewed election process so that the stranglehold on power is preserved? In the case of Runway 14/32 -- a single chapter in Logan Airport's decades long pummeling of East Boston -- the tyrannical leadership at Massport forges ahead despite vast opposition from the working people who live in this neighborhood and in surrounding communities. Bob Durand, despite his title as the Massachusetts secretary of environmental affairs, has proven no friend to this state's environment or to its people. His decision, last Friday, to certify the port authority's environmental impact report is disappointing. Massport's board of directors practically tripped over themselves on Monday in the rush to vote on a few small items that would further satisfy Durand. Lost in this flurry of action are the findings of an independent study of the runway issue prepared for the Community Advisory Committee, an anti-runway coalition. According to The Boston Globe, the report criticized what the FAA and Massport have been saying about 14/32 as "a significant misinterpretation or misrepresentation of reality." Though an aviation-consulting company conducted the study and Massport funded it, the conclusions are being totally disregarded because they are not in step with the agency's aims. The report accuses the agency of using "faulty figures," according to The Globe, as well as concluding that Runway 14/32 "would do more to increase airport capacity than it would to reduce delays." Of course, consultants have to maintain a level of professionalism and so they resort to jargon and euphemistic phrases, but we know all about Massport's "faulty figures" and "misrepresentation[s] of reality." In East Boston, we have a simpler word for that. Lying. Massport lies. The agency and its leadership cannot be trusted. They will say whatever they must to further their agenda, and their agenda is always at odds with the best interests of this community. We cannot continue to let the government run roughshod over us. We cannot continue to have our voices ignored. We cannot continue letting money and power make decisions without fear of reprisal from the voters. |