Why did members of the city council do what they do?

Dear Editor,

  At the March 27th City Council meeting we saw:

How fear and pettiness gets in the way of logic and reason.

How fear of the unknown produces illogical decisions.

How pettiness can trump humility at the expense of seeking a positive outcome.

How negative thinking that focuses too much on “why we can’t” vs. “how we can” prevents us from moving forward.

How the acts of the powerful can use the civic process to block a logical path forward to developing a collaborative dialogue and solving problems.

  Previous to the City Council meet the Ways & Means Committee’s voted not to advise the city council to approve the motion for pursuing a feasibility study at the existing RHS site. The city council decided to ignore that vote and approved it anyway. For a moment, there was a ray of light indicating that logic and financial sensibility would prevail. And then the light was completely snuffed out. Why did this happen?

  One councilor expressed his understandable and, based on his comments, legitimate frustration with the city administration and school administration officials’ collaborative efforts. He went on to say that he didn’t think we could afford either the Wonderland site or the Existing High School site, and that we needed to go back to the drawing board.

  I too believe that there could be better communication and collaboration amongst all parties concerned. But, the action on the part of the council amounted to “throwing the baby out with the bath water” and leaving the baby (the future of the city’s educational program) out in the cold.

  I too am frustrated. I am frustrated with the inability of all involved to work together for a positive outcome. I am frustrated with councilors who ignore our pleas to take logical actions that can move collaborative discussions forward. Who instead are taking negative steps that will throw the project and the city’s educational future into a state of disarray for years to come.

  The proper action for the council in February would have been to say, “we aren’t happy with the collaborative efforts, we have many questions regarding the costs, and we plan to withhold our approval of the plan until that happens. This would have added months to the project not years. It would also have provided some opportunity to work on cost reductions, resolve outstanding questions and dispel any misinformation that existed.

  I don’t know why that didn’t happen, and I may never know why. What I do know and what I truly believe is that what we have experienced, has been a total breakdown of logical discourse and inability to take positive actions to logically and responsibly resolve this issue. It appears the that [sic] enough members of the city council who are hell bent on venting its anger with the City Administration and School Department, and who would rather pursue goals of trying to make money at Wonderland Park, have trumped all efforts to develop a positive path forward to protect the city’s educational future.

I am angry.

I am trying very hard to forgive (it may take a while).

But, I will never forget.

Signed,

Edward Deveau

Revere resident