Nov 6, 2021 2 min read

I was somewhat dismayed at the defeat of the ballot issue regarding a government study commission. I say “somewhat” because I do not follow local politics, and have not voted since the 2016 debacle. (In my view we need an emperor who can be decided by rules of succession as in days of old: poisoning or stabbing.) The innocuous question of, “Should we consider a new form of county government?” was just that, innocuous, and supposedly, uncontroversial. The commission was advisory only, and had no power to enact any recommendations it may have originated.

So why the crushing defeat? Not the sort of question that I am going to spend a lot of time thinking about until I was gob-smacked by a realization. I recall seeing a sign (in Canonsburg, where I live) promoting the issue and asking for a vote for the person (who shall remain nameless) to be on the commission. All I can remember thinking was, “Why would I want that idiot having anything to do with county government?”

That’s the reason the measure failed. It was not the issue itself; it was completely decided by the voters’ detestation of the people on (or who wanted to be on) the commission. The people who wanted to be on the commission were not regarded as selfless volunteers who would give their time freely in service to the community, but a bunch of self-important busy bodies who want to tell people how they should be governed.

Harsh? You bet! ( I do not torture puppies, and will feed your fish if you are out of town for the weekend.)

Petty? You bet! (But if I come into a restaurant you better hope you are the server for my table … I tip big!)

Jealous? Yes, but not of this sort of thing. Ask me about comparing my income to … someone else’s.

So the lesson is this: next time an issue like this arises put it on the ballot as a “yes” or “no” question. Commission members to be decided by a cage match.

John Manning

Canonsburg