I’ve been watching and reading all of the banter with regard to the decision of the City Council to stick a supplemental tax increase on us. Well folks, they did it again — and we’re doing NOTHING to stop it.
I appreciate Patch’s opening up their articles for discussion, but quite frankly, all I see is a venue for people to vent and argue about what has happened and what we all should do. The operative word there is “should.”
Folks, we’re all voicing our opinions about what we’d like to see happen, who to blame, how to fix it and so on and so on. But no one is coming up with a direction that we could all take and maybe actually CHANGE our direction for the future.
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Let’s take a moment and look at what we all have here in front of us. We have people elected to offices that — from what I can see — have been elected by “the seniors in the high rises.” OK, how did that happen? It happened because the rest of us let that happened because, collectively, we didn’t care. It’s called apathy. “My vote won’t matter.”
Well, hello... YES IT DOES!
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How can you allow a candidate like Marc Dubois to be elected to the City Council? This man almost single handedly brought down the City of Woonsocket! And we allowed his cohorts to be re-elected to the school committee as well! Have any of you ever listened to our current School Committee Chairperson speak? If that is the product of our school system, we are all in trouble! “Somethin’… Speakin’… Talkin’… Goin’…” I could go on and on.
Look, rather than waste all of our collective time complaining about the way things are, how about we all come together and do something about it? I see people like Sharon Cross and Memere and so many others posting on Patch. We’re all residents, taxpayers, and in the case of the two I just mentioned, voters. We care; we’re concerned; and we want change. Why don’t we focus on making
those critical changes happen? Folks, we CAN make those changes happen!
Bickering and finger-pointing on a public forum does nothing but insight anger in everyone. We end up taking our frustrations out on the next guy that makes a post. Why don’t we collectively focus our efforts on fixing some of the many problems that are facing us?
Let’s start here. What if we enacted a recall for those officials (mayor, City Council, School Committee) that we feel have been malfeasant in their duties, whether in their current terms or in past terms in office. Why should these people be allowed to continue to misrepresent us — their constituents? Remove them from office!
We are all saying “cut out the cancer and stop the bleeding.” They choose to dig deeper into the pockets of those that can least afford it. Folks, what are we waiting for?
Tell me why 25 percent of the population should have to foot the bill for the other 75 pecent. I have never been in the school system in this city. I have no children in the school system. I have relatives who have never had children in the school system, yet we have all supported the Woonsocket School System. I ask you: What about those who enjoy all the benefits at our expense? I tire of the statement “It’s all about the children!” Tell you what. If it’s your kid, you should pay too. Don’t sit there and tell me I should “invest” in our children’s future. Folks, it’s time to stand up and say NO MORE!
The time is now to make the officials who were elected accountable for the callous disregard of the well-being of you and me — the residents; the taxpayers; the people of this once fine city. Band together, stand up and JUST SAY NO!
One of our newest council members based his campaign on the phrase, “Push Back.” I must ask Mr. Brien: When do you propose to start to push back? We consistently are forced to swallow state mandates without funding. “You have to do this and we’re not going to help you pay for it.” Tell me ladies and entlemen… If someone knocked on your door and said, “You need to plant 10 trees, paint your house blue, and make your living room available to all the subsidized housing residents that want to come and watch TV in your living room,” what would you say?
I can hear all of your responses now. Simply, it would never happen. ]So I have to ask: Why do we let it happen in Woonsocket?
Let’s come together, people. We need to take over and drive the bus. Post here with POSITIVE suggestions about how we can effect change here. I’m on board if you are. Let’s make it happen!
