CITY LIGHTS
By Al Hooper

Its normal to view your work as important. Among other things, it gives you that warm inner glow without benefit of a flask or a needle.

And your work IS important. All work is if its honest and done well and leaves no victims.

Define important, we hear the owl-eyed gent in judges robes grumping.

Happy to, Y'r Honor. The most important people we know professionally are the clerks at our neighborhood grocery, and our auto mechanics and nurses and doctors and, of course, our everlovin caffeine baristas.

Consider those medical professionals. A pressure job. Takes a toll. Making life-or-death decisions every day guarantees a lot of wincing.
But does anyone empathize?

The late George Carlin observed, Isnt it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do practice?
Someone else adds, Everybody makes mistakes but most of us dont bury them.

Which leads inexorably to a comparison between the embattled medicos and the work performed by your Edmonds City Council.

It too is a pressure job. Councilors too make mistakes. And they do it in plain sight. If their critics miss a meeting, they can always catch the taped delay on Channel 21.

Well, you say. Thats public life. Kind of like sitting in the national cross-hairs as an elected official in Washington, D.C.

No, its different. Much. Congress is relatively insulated from the consequences of its gaffes.

Example: Lobbyists spend $3 billion a year in the Other Washington. In 2004 a single corporate tax break granted by Congress enabled 800 companies to avoid paying $100 billion in taxes.

Lets see 3 billion into 100 billion goes how many times?

Not a bad ROI, as they used to say on Wall Street when people were still listening.

And did this travesty of leadership trigger a Niagara of public outrage? Not a drop. Congress is at a safe remove from most of us. Send them an irate letter, if youre inclined. Then go back to your nap.

Council members enjoy no such firewall of anonymity.

For them, a stroll to Starbucks can turn into a running Q&A. Your average councilor may be unrecognizable six feet out of town, but theyre mighty familiar around here. And their constituents are right there with urgent advice.

This year we have eight local candidates vying for three council seats, and theyll offer their vision for a better Edmonds in public forums leading up to the Nov. 3 election.

Youll hear much talk about preserving the charm of Edmonds. This is code for something else but Ive forgotten what.

The crux of the problem is a little less ethereal. Like every jurisdiction in the nation, Edmonds faces a budget dilemma.

Namely, to raise taxes or cut services.
Which do you prefer, Ms. Candidate?
If theres another option, do let us know. Please.

We miss you already, DARE

Now that the DARE program is DOA, some of its critics risk tennis elbow from patting themselves on the back.

DARE didnt work anyway, they declare, citing fanciful studies that suggest no matter what you do, some folks will use street drugs just to be contrary.

Didnt work anyway.

Its like saying some people will die on our roads anyway, so why bother teaching them to drive?

Truth is, the Drug Awareness Resistance Education program met a fundamental need for kids in any environment. Budget cuts killed it in the Edmonds School District. And thats no cause for celebration.

Sometimes we take for granted the people we should know best, Edmonds police Sgt. Bob Barker tells parents of DARE students.

Its up to us to know what our kids are feeling and thinking. When your kids come home from school and you ask how their day went, remind them that `fine is not an acceptable answer. Which is just as true if your kids ask you the same question.

With Sgt. Barker at the helm, and with Chief Al Compaan and Mayor Gary Haakenson on board, DARE sailed straight for the key issues.

Its your judgment that counts, students were told. Soon youll be making decisions that affect the rest of your life. If you muck up, it will be because you made bad choices. Its your call and nobody elses.

Personal responsibility. Not a bad thing to impart on any level.

Too bad so many adults cant get their head around it.