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Community Failure
We went to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie the Friday after Thanksgiving. Arriving early gave us a chance to walk around Mill City. We ended up at the 35W Bridge Memorial, which is behind the Guthrie along the River.
The memorial has thirteen columns, for each of those who died in the collapse, with their names and a brief statement about their lives. There is also a wall with the names of the survivors and rescuers. I was glad we took the time to stop. It stirred emotions in me.
As we stood there I also felt guilty because as a community we failed these victims of this tragedy. I know that we all like to put the blame on the designer who erred on the gusset plates, the contractor who overloaded the bridge during the resurfacing, MnDOT, the Governor, Legislature and a host of others.
In the end, we have to realize that we are responsible. We elect the political leaders that hire the experts, consultants, contractors, and workers. We elected the legislature that decided it made sense to use the lowest bidder rather than ones who give us the best value. We are the ones that need to take the blame for putting “no-new-taxes” above the lives of our fellow citizens, our families and ourselves.
The time has come when as Americans we have to stop blaming everyone else for the problems of our country and realize we are a major part of the problem. All of us are concerned about our nation’s debt, but did not blink an eye when deficits started building with the Reagan and G. W. Bush tax cuts with no matching spending cuts.
We whine about the terrible state of Minnesota’s finances, but did we raise a stir with the large tax cuts during the Ventura administration. Did we complain to our legislators when the Rainy Day funds were used to pay us rebates? Are we concerned today in Minnesota that the wealthy pay a lower percentage of state and local taxes than the rest of us?
If we want safe roads, or our bridges to stay up, and want a clean safe environment, then we better work for good government. If we do not want the rich and corporations to buy our policymakers then we need to change our campaign and election rules and laws. Lets stop blaming everyone else, and decide what each of us can do to make things better.
Posted in Transportation | Related Topics: Community Safety Progressive Community 35W Bridge Infrastructure
1 Comment
Ginny says:
December 8, 2011 at 10:02 am
I’ve always felt that Pawlenty and his then-Lt. Gov. and DOT director have blood on their hands, but so do many of us. Both ignored and delayed upgrading and fixing that bridge. It’s one of the most shameful aspects of MN history.