LETTER: Thoughts on political leadership
October 4, 2024 | By Morgan Brown To the Community:
When it comes to governing and providing sorely needed political leadership, particularly during times of financial troubles as well as when there is a serious humanitarian and social crisis, at least to my way of thinking as a layperson, the main concerns of an elected politician or otherwise a candidate seeking political office should not merely be about the administration and management of government, but rather be toward providing proper leadership, particularly and most importantly when balancing competing as well as diverse interests and needs.
The keyword here being leadership.
What requires safeguarding during a humanitarian and social crisis, especially during periods of financial hardship and tight budgets, are the needs and lives of those who are most in need, those who are the most vulnerable within society, people who are living unhoused (a.k.a. living homeless), people with disabilities, people labeled with serious mental illness or who experience severe emotional distress, people with serious and potentially life-threatening medical conditions, families with underaged children, those who are fleeing domestic abuse and violence, and senior citizens.
That should be the utmost bottom line, the primary or most important consideration, nothing else.
What is crucial to keep in mind in all of this is that none of it is about having enough funds or resources available at various levels (whether it be at the federal, state or local level), rather it is about exercising the political will and making these matters a high priority in order to get something meaningful accomplished.
In addition, what often gets forgotten or neglected when political leaders and policymakers are factoring these equations as part of their decision-making process, is that there is also a high cost, both in financial as well as human terms, in doing nothing.
The fact is that whenever political leaders at either the state or local level have something that is a high priority to them and exercise sufficient political will, they find a way, they find the funds, and get it done.
That requires effective leadership, something which has been seriously lacking at both the state administrative level (read: the governor) and legislative level (read: the state legislature) as well as the local municipal level within Vermont for years, most particularly when it comes to meaningfully addressing homelessness and related matters.
Much of this is likely due to deliberate indifference as well as possibly having bigger fish to fry, so the can gets kicked down the road and the blame as well as buck continually gets passed, because those in positions of political leadership and power figure that it is someone else’s problem, not theirs.
In the face of this, the question gets begged: what is one to do?
Therefore, if we as a people and society want things to change concerning such matters, it is up to us as a people and society to create meaningful change, including by changing elected political leadership at the state and local municipal level whenever necessary.
It is high time for we the people to take the lead and demand change if we want something meaningful and real to happen rather than continue expecting someone in positions of political leadership and power to eventually do so. Otherwise, nothing will get done and then nothing will change.
This is why it is imperative to speak out, make one’s voice heard and one’s vote count both at the ballot box and between election cycles.
Montpelier resident Morgan W. Brown is a blogger and writer, who has previously lived unhoused for years.