THE PUBLIC MIND: COUNCIL DOESN'T CONSIDER `COMMON MAN' IN TRASH FEE INCREASE

Open Letter to the Cape Girardeau City Council:

This letter is to "thank you" for listening to the citizens of Cape Girardeau in your vote to increase the fees for trash pickup without further investigating the methods in which to do it within the realms of fairness to all.

Many people feel I waste my time writing letters and attending meetings; they say committees are a waste of time because nobody listens anyway. I feel a democracy only works if people stand up for what they believe in honestly. Everybody has their own special interests but only a few come out if it affects them personally. It is the silent majority that stays home and feels it is a waste of time to get out and express any dissatisfaction with the system. I am one of the majority but with the difference that I feel the system will work with enough impact from the people. Why can't the "silent majority" become a special interest for a change?

I was asked by a member of the council to consider being part of a task force to look into the trash fees and how to implement and bill for it in a more logical and equitable fashion, then report to the council. Nobody declared it would be voted on for sure that night, so I left earlier. I was shocked to read the morning paper. It was already decided before I, or anyone else, came up there that they were going to raise the rates no matter what. Now, it is declared a task force will be put in place after the fact to study the situation. For what? Mr. Limbaugh already decided a task force would not allow any fees raised because as citizens we were biased and we're ~not capable of making informed decisions. Whether he stated it in that way, the undertones of his remarks were heard - and understood.

It seems only those individuals who are for the common citizen, namely Mr. Richards and Mr. Gateley, voted in favor of looking into the matter before raising rates. I applaud you both for your steadfast earnestness. The others with few financial concerns did not consider at all the needs of the citizens or what they wanted before they raised the rates. Mr. Rhodes, even though he gets a lot of flack from people, has always stood with what the people think, the majority of the taxpayers, the middleman. He remains the middleman on most issues. Even if I don't always agree with him, I have respect for him because he stands up to the other council people on issues affecting the common person. Somehow he doesn't forget who voted for him.

Mrs. Wulfers voted for the raise in fees, but felt the need for a task force? Why? Why now, when the council has already voiced their lack of concern for what the citizens think or how they make it from week to week financially? Once the rates are in place, who is really going to be able to change them without a lot of red tape and at what additional cost to the city administration? Just more headaches for all concerned. The city wants voluntary recycling but gives no incentive for doing it. Just more stinking trash left over for next week's pickup. Maybe even creating a health problem in the city when animals get into it, torn bags, garbage strewn all over. Maybe not in every neighborhood, but it doesn't have to be in all neighborhoods to be a blight on health. In the forties, polio and other infectious diseases, although confined in a small area because of unsanitary conditions, spread to other areas. That was before solid waste removal and safe sanitation practices were in place. But we should wait until it becomes a problem to worry about that. As always, politics is a strange bedfellow to democracy. Good with the "double speak" messages are all the politicians, citywide and statewide, who profess to be for the little man. Then, when push comes to shove they do as they will. Nobody likes fees raised or taxes raised. But it seems every time taxes are raised to help fund this or that, like the bonds left over from the city for building the Show Me Center that could be used to pay off indebtedness, ~it is asked to be used to fund something entirely different. The lottery squeaked through because of double speak promises that it would be used for education. The words were there but the truth was hidden somewhere else, not in the meaning of the speaker.

A task force at this point in time is just an appeasement, a form of "get the agitators off our backs for a while until this thing dies down." Because, in a few weeks people will go on as if this thing were never an issue. The rich have loopholes to reroute their taxes and fees, John Q Public does not have that luxury. The elderly and small homeowner is penalized for having less trash than others, and must help pay the cost for those who overuse the system. Angry, yes I am, and righteously so! I won't call Speak Out and hide behind anonymity to voice my concerns. Maybe, I speak for the ~~silent majority" who have found the game of apathy is much safer to play. Although I am not quite as trusting of people in politics anymore, I guess I am just too altruistic to start playing that kind of game ... because I play to win - but unlike some members of the city council, not at someone else's expense!

Maryann "~Miki" Gudermuth

Cape Girardeau