Sad

There are many things that evoke sadness. There isn’t enough room on this page to cover the various situations that fall under this umbrella. One of the areas is that of politics. What is so sad in one instance is that the City of Parma doesn’t care about the City of Parma. Neither the Administrators nor the residents, as a whole, want to expend any effort into improving the city. It appears that neither care for anything but their own advancement, whether it is financial or social or anything else. 

You say that is not the case. Explain to me, then, why no one seems to be interested in running for a government position, or getting the lackluster performers out of office. At this time, there is only one ward where there is a challenge to the incumbent. Oh yes, people will complain about a variety of shortcomings, but sit and wait for others to take responsibility. There has been grumblings about the representation in some wards, yet there is no response from the people of the ward. There are representatives who have questionable character and yet they keep getting voted in office, again and again, and that is beyond my comprehension. The response is, yes, they are aware of the shortcomings but my vote has always been for the incumbent. How much more ignorant can a voter be? You get what you vote for. There are voters who cast their ballot solely based on gender or familiarity or not knowing about any of the candidates. Instead of being outraged by their lack of performance or in some cases serious character flaws, we sit by and let them continue to get paid for a position that they are not able to handle, or just collect a paycheck as a part time position. 

You must demand performance from your officials, for they are like children. Unless you watch them all the time, they will see what they can get away with. Unless you demand performance out of them, they will do as little as possible. We seem to let them take a position of superiority and our thought is that we should listen to them. The opposite is true. We are the ones paying their salaries. In business, the ones paying the salaries are the ones who demand performance. As a taxpayer, we are the ones paying for services; that makes us the ones who should demand performance. Why is it that we allow our employees to ignore and dismiss our request for service or a response. They can say your request is not a priority, but what is more important than the employer? If your request is not taken care of at that moment, the employee should work to make sure you and all of the taxpayers are properly handled with their concerns. Do you believe you deserve poor treatment? That is what you are getting presently. If you believe you deserve better, then don’t rely on the other person to stand up for you, you must stand up for yourself. You have worked your entire life toward a good life, in many instances. 

Don’t allow your employees to dictate to you, you dictate to them. There are certain parameters where common sense must prevail. However, for the most part, it is incompetence that prevails in governmental positions. Until you make certain you are heard, the powers that be will do their best to ignore you. Now, you must remember this one little nugget. If things aren’t properly resolved, no matter how much resistance is encountered, it is your fault for not getting it resolved. You quit, you didn’t follow through with letting the proper authorities know you aren’t giving up. And if you don’t get satisfaction, go above their head all the way to the mayor. You can replace all those who don’t resolve your issue, including the mayor. That is what they rely on, you getting frustrated and quitting. If you want a better life, you must continue to strive for a better life. Don’t let your employees dictate to you, you dictate to them. If you don’t get a proper response, don’t blame the city administrators. It is only you who is at fault.