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These times are certainly unusual. There are days when I actively avoid the news about what novel approach to cutting government programs a nameless, faceless computer hacker has devised today. Much the way a hedge fund would liquidate assets in a company they were trying to look profitable, only to dress it up for a quick sale, or chop it up for parts, so we are carving up our government with a chain saw instead of a scalpel. There are a lot of good people, who have developed decades of expertise and competence in very specific subject matter. They are doing work that is sometimes repetitive or mundane, but none-the-less adds to a consistent data set we have been collecting for 250 years, or ensures breakfast gets delivered to underprivileged school kids who might not eat otherwise or makes sure the weather report is accurate. To see this class of public servants, who aren’t shilling for lobbyists or working on their next book deal, scapegoated as the cause of government graft by the very people who write the funding bills in the first place just makes me angry.
But, in the face of this, we must keep living our lives. As the president of your community association, I want to assure you, I am not in it for the money. (This is a volunteer position.) I know the impulse people feel to help their communities and to give back through service is real because I operate on that drive as well. And when our neighbor has to leave town to help her aging mother, we take in her mail, and care for her dog. When the snow comes, we clear the sidewalk not just in front of our house, but more. The Overlea Community Association is a voice for you in local politics, in business development, in beautification. But first and foremost, we want to help our community come together.
We want to empower you to be heard, but we also want to give you the opportunity to listen to each other. We want to encourage you to “love thy neighbor” if for no other reason than to live the Truth that people aren’t just self- interested, petty, and indifferent. Our struggles are shared. Our triumphs can be, too.
Martin Nibali
President, OCA