More than water and streets

Ross Bittner served as Globe’s vice mayor, mayor and city councilman for 17 years beginning in the ‘70s. He once told me his only job was “water, sewer, and streets.”

Today’s local councils carry a far heavier load — housing, downtown development, tourism, grants, lobbyists — and now flood recovery that will consume budgets and energy for years to come. Threading that needle makes for a mindboggling job description.

Serving on council is not easy, nor particularly rewarding, either financially or in the “atta boy” sense you might hope for when giving your time to a community. It’s a hot seat not many would willingly choose. Sometimes you get it right. Sometimes you don’t.

Case in point: In late April, the City of Globe sent letters to local businesses promoting a city banner program in partnership with the company Community Showcase Banners. It was pitched as a way to “enhance and brighten” a downtown still clawing back from flood damage. The company is from out of town and the prices were steep. Business owners noticed and bristled. The obvious question: Why not partner with the local sign company in town that has the reputation, the capability and the readiness to be exactly the kind of partner a downtown program needs?

When the city quietly pulled the program and issued an apology, it stopped short of genuinely reckoning with what went wrong. Calling it an “oversight” isn’t accountability.

That’s what makes our election forums for City of Globe and Town of Miami council candidates this week worth your time. Watch them in person on June 17 and 18, or catch the livestreams on our Facebook page.