Ah, you have to love Hamlet. “To sleep; perchance to dream: ay there’s the rub: for in that sleep of death what dreams may come?”

We already knew things were rotten in many of our political states, but sometimes the explanations that politicians give for their actions is like we were in a dreamworld. “Oh yes, my family personally benefited from my cryptocurrency scam, but it did not affect  my decision to allow people to bid for a seat at my dinner table.” “Oh yes, this developer contributed thousands to my personal fundraiser, but it did not affect my decision to change our laws to give him what he wanted.” Ay, there’s the rub.

My wife recently submitted her first ever political comment to our local newspaper. Our local politician did not answer a single one of her questions, instead submitting a “Statement” reminiscent of the Schrodinger’s cat hypothesis. The issue of concern to my wife has to do with a motion, submitted by the Mayor of a town, to allow a developer to infill a fully rehabilitated gravel pit’s freshwater lake with his excess soil. The site is not currently zoned to receive excess soil, so the Strong Mayor initiated a motion to allow this to happen. The developer just happens to be a major donor to the mayor’s private fundraisers.  Not saying that there is any connection, but the perception of conflict of interest is there.

The politician’s response to my wife’s letter was calm and treasonable and meaningless. The motion she brought forward should never have been raised in the first place. It was misleading in its description of the site and a violation of the Town’s own By-laws. Now it is subject to staff reviews as to whether or not the lake should be infilled. And who is paying for those reviews? Will they be subject to  impartial review?  This is potentially a tragedy of common sense and ethics. apparently illegal, and for those who have seen “Swan Lake”, most definitely immoral.

Are we sleepwalking ourselves into the death of democracy in our community?  Politicians issuing sweet words in media releases that lull us to sleep but say nothing of truth, nothing of accountability, nothing of apology.

That is truly rotten. The way I see it.s