Opinion: Candidate must have been smoking funny stuff

It has become increasingly popular — among the general public and political candidates alike — to talk about cutting government, reducing taxes and making government smaller. As a result of this trend, we see police and fire layoffs, less frequent parks mowing, office hours reduced and back-logs in services like home inspections or unemployment applications.

In a recent candidate debate, I was fascinated by one candidate who spoke about eliminating business taxes and dramatically reducing personal income taxes while improving services. That candidate was either smoking funny stuff or just 'blowing smoke' (and you can imagine where).

What people fail to see are the invisible services that protect us all every day and which we all use on a regular basis.

We don't see the technician who is at work every hour of every day testing at the water treatment plant to make sure that the water we drink is safe. We don't see the technician at the sewage treatment plant that makes sure, again 24-7, that we are not releasing unsafe material into our waters. When we stop for a cup of coffee, we don't see the health inspector who checks the kitchen and the coffee urns on a regular basis to make sure that your coffee is brewed and served in a safe manner. When we fill up with gas, we might notice the sticker on the pump, but we don't see the official who checks and certifies that the pump registers a gallon accurately.

These are invisible services that protect us all every day — but which we don't ever actually see being performed. Yet, in the demand for cutting government, all of these services have been curtailed somewhat. There are less frequent inspections or overworked staff who perform less well because they are now doing the work of two or three people.

Beyond these daily services, we fail to recognize the hidden cost of delayed services. A recent news article highlighted the fact that while we have managed to keep our state parks open, we have virtually eliminated all long-term improvements and basic maintenance. The campsites are open, but the roads, bathrooms, plumbing, pavilions, etc. have not seen upgrades for years. The hidden cost of the delayed repairs is a kind of hidden debt that we are passing on to our children and grandchildren in the name of "smaller government" today.

No one likes the idea of paying more taxes and all of us want the greatest possible efficiency in government. But our failure to pay for, or even recognize the value of services we all use and from which we all benefit, is dangerous. We really need to begin to recognize the value of government and cease the anti-government rhetoric and arguments. For the most part, political candidates are unwilling to do so unless we, as citizens, stop demanding unrealistic cuts.

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I invite you to e-mail me if you would like to comment, seek clarification, complain, etc. I'm at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . But don't bother to e-mail me if you are unwilling to identify yourself by name and address, or at least, neighborhood. If you're unwilling to identify yourself, I will delete them automatically. I'm insisting on you identifying yourselves because I really don't want to receive the same kind of "idiot talk" that seems to fill the Flint Journal blogs.) — Jack.

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Jack Minore is a retired teacher, former long-serving city councilperson, former legislator and active in a number of political and environmental groups - notably the Flint River Watershed Coalition and Friends of the Flint River Trail. Jack was in the original group that formed East Village Magazine.