Government is Working?
Despite all the bad press and publicity that various local and state governments are having in the United States, it’s nice to see that the picture may not be as terrible as is generally painted. Along with some personal contact information, I sent the following email message just after noon to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, part of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
I recently discovered a pile of waste tires while on a hike in an open reserve and figured you might be the best person to advise.
Exact location: N37 12.379 W121 58.880
In English, that’s at an elevation of about 950 feet in the St. Joseph’s Open Reserve. The Open Reserve is approximately 1.25 miles south of downtown Los Gatos (near San Jose, CA), is a half mile NNE of Lexington Reservoir, and is approximately a half mile east of Highway 17.Attached is a photo.
Within ten minutes, still during the traditional governmental lunch hour, I received a reply:
I have forwarded your e-mail on to appropriate staff. Don Dier supervises the Enforcement Section for the Waste Tire Management Branch. He will either contact you directly or have one of our enforcement staff return your e-mail and/or call. Thank You. — Kim
A fast and appropriate response. Pretty impressive, I think. Far too often, we criticize, we lambaste, we concentrate on the negative aspects and publicity that seems to be an ever-present cloud existing over many of the governmental and bureaucratic edifices. In comparison, how many of our own lives would fair so well under the unending scrutiny of the American public? How many people write off gifts to friends and family as business expenses? How many people speed through intersections after the light turns red and are lucky enough not to cause an accident or not get caught? How many people have sampled candy in a store without paying?
Sure, not exactly apple-to-apple analogies, but overall those people that commit those less than legal, inappropriate, or thoughtless acts are still good people. The same applies to governments. If we concentrated less on the one bad thing we saw, and noticed instead the 99 good things that we take for granted, perhaps our overall outlook would change. Less and less do I believe in generalization, among races, among countries, among governments.
The future may be brighter than originally thought…
