2:16

I wasn’t planning on being at my keyboard at 1:26 AM, but a combination of heartburn from some wings I had earlier and utter and complete frustration have led me here.

I took office in January 2007. Since that time, I have ridden an emotional roller coaster while doing the very best job possible to serve my constituents. Some days have been better than others. The personal politics and the petty clashes that arise in this line of work are often unavoidable, but at the same time I have never really doubted the general desire for most people to do right by the people they represent. If the conflict arises from honest and legitimate ways to achieve that goal, then such is the barest definition of politics, and may the best man or woman win.

But I am unable to sleep tonight because for the first time, I am almost totally overwhelmed by the seemingly inexplicable and steadfast resistance I am meeting at nearly every level of government that is making it nearly impossible to solve a problem. At this point, I cannot give too many specifics, for a couple of reasons. First, everything is evolving very quickly, and I don’t want to sabotage my own efforts by saying too much too soon. Second, I am pretty sure that if I laid everything out and said how I felt, I’d end up getting slapped with some frivolous lawsuit. But here’s what I will say.

This involves my efforts to help the over 800 families and small businesses in Cecil Township who paid over $6200 each to tap into the local sanitary sewage system get some level of refund from the $5 million H20 PA grant I helped secure for Cecil Township last summer. What should have been a slam-dunk, no-brainer has become as close to Hell on Earth as anyone could imagine. I have had facts confirmed that I suspected all along, and knowing who the specific people are who are actively and aggressively working to block these rebates is a stunningly and profoundly disappointing piece of knowledge. But there can be no mistaking it, no matter how hard I wanted to believe otherwise; there are people out there who are working hard to prevent these people from being helped under any circumstances.

Look, I’m in state government. Unlike my federal counterparts, I perceive my battles to be more bureaucratic than epic. Very rarely do we deal with a true group of “bad guys”, and even more rarely do they resemble villains from a James Bond movie. Yet here I sit at my computer at 1:47 AM, still trying to comprehend how some people could be so devoid of humanity and so encompassed by their own self-interests to turn a blind eye against people who deserve help by just about any objective standard you could muster. I’m used to puffed-up politician, cartoon-style, over-exaggerated evil. I’m not used to the real thing.

So my task is to figure out where to go from here. Despite their best efforts, both in the past and in days to come, the people who are behind this screwing of the first magnitude have not yet succeeded in their attempts, and I know that there is a way to put this ball over the goal line. But I also know that how I choose to respond to the situation could largely impact the result, and to be totally honest, I don’t know what to do next. For over 800 of my friends and neighbors, the stakes are pretty high, and it’s not just about the money. There is a serious principle at stake, a principle that if you fight hard enough and refuse to accept the status quo from those who would simply dismiss you and send you away, you can make a difference.

I know I’m sounding a little high-concept and corny here, but I’m deadly serious. Decent, hard-working people have been lied to over and over again by their own government to the point where they honestly believe no one can ever help them. Knowing what I know, I find it unacceptable to turn a blind eye to the reprehensible actions of those who claim to have the best interests of the people at heart while doing everything in their power to step on their necks. And to those who say this is only a Cecil problem, know that if they can do this in Cecil, they can do it anywhere. It’s really bigger than these 800 families.

There are a whole lot of different ways I can go with this problem, and to be honest I haven’t really decided how I’m going to proceed yet. But here are a couple of facts you can take to the bank. First, I’m going down swinging, and I will not stop as long as there is any possibility these people have checks in their hands. Second, those of you who talking out of both sides of your mouths while trying to hurt these people, know that I will do everything in my power to let the people know who you are and what  you are trying to do.

Finally, if it comes out that the motivation for all of this nonsense is an attempt to hurt me politically in the upcoming election, (which I know is a part of it), write down the date and time you decided to hold my constituents hostage to try and win an election, because you’re going to want to put that moment in your scrapbook as potentially the stupidest moment of your life.  If I lacked any motivation before to go out and knock on doors and do whatever I need to do in order to finish what I’ve started here, congratulations-  you’ve provided it.

It’s 2:16 AM now, and my heartburn is starting to subside. Maybe it was the Tums, or maybe I feel better getting all of this off my chest. Either way, I need to get to bed.

I have a whole lot of work to do tomorrow.

Tagged as: cecil township, Jesse White, millers run sewage project