Neighbor discussion: “We have a few wheelchairs, walkers, canes and a variety of…” – Patch.com

On the even of this contentious national election, I am reminded how fortunate I am to live in America and to have enjoyed the privilege of participating in a democratic nation. We are all too aware of countries around the world where there is no democratic process, no real or reliable voting at all. We think of corruption as something that belongs to South American dictatorships or Eastern European oligarchs or Middle East sheiks. We think of corruption as coming from the top of government and affecting poor, vulnerable populations.

Before casting my vote tomorrow on my mail-in ballot, I am concerned now to see how Montclair’s local government has evolved over the last decade. The culmination of this disturbing trend is seen in what happened at the ballot box and to our most fundamental right to vote and have a say in our government: In our spring elections for the town council, 11% of our votes were not counted. This means that more than 1000 neighbors in our town had their voice in their local government denied them. This is a travesty. In the recent petition for a referendum on rent control, my signature was denied along with 600 others from my neighbors. I signed the petition, not because I was for or against fair and equal rent control, but because I was for democracy, for the right of every voice in Montclair to have their say on this important issue.

The corruption creep in Montclair over the past decade has been palpable. The move by our local blog sites, particularly Baristanet and Montclair Local, to silence varying views and black voices is extremely disturbing. The appointments of incompetent friends to the Board of Education by the mayor with its resulting chaos in leadership and impact on our children’s education and health is reprehensible. And the use of “development” as a tool for enriching low-level politicians is an outrage.

As the OECD has pointed out, corruption at the local level of government is particularly sinister. It hurts poor people the most. Perhaps even worse, it eventually destroys democracy. I hope to see tomorrow every mail-in vote in Montclair counted, not a single citizen left behind in our democratic process. I look forward to the day when we see in Montclair the emergence of an honest political class, to a day when our Board of Education is occupied by competent civic minded people who are not taking for themselves, and a town council occupied by people who do not use their seat for private enrichment but for the public good. Starting here in Montclair, we need to protect our democracy.