Boss Hogg Lives!
Okay, here’s the scenario: somewhere in a town probably deep down in the rural South, the politicians decide unceremoniously to dump part of the city’s utility system. The line given to the townsfolk, is that the utility system is losing money. This issue of losses is hotly contested, but the town fathers are able to stall off an independent audit to determine if the utility is really losing money. The only daily newspaper in town is owned by basically the same group of people that run the town – they’re all good ol’ boys – so it spouts a nearly constant stream of propaganda backing up what the town fathers say. Feeling secure, the politicians plow right ahead. There are questions, however.
Why, you ask yourself, would anyone want to buy a utility that’s losing money? So they can take the losses themselves, instead of the city? Obviously, this is altruism’s finest hour! But then you remember that the person buying the utility is one of the group of good ol’ boys. Armed with this thought, you have to assume it’s a no-brainer the utility must be making money hand over fist! Otherwise no one would want to buy it. The good ol’ boys don’t waste money on unprofitable businesses. It’s just not done. And cooking the books to make it show a loss is so, so easy.
The move to sell the utility doesn’t really surprise anyone because the town’s politics are dominated by the good ol’ boys, and they often make decisions like this. This is not these politicians’ first rodeo.
Where might something like this happen? Right off the top, most people would think of Hazzard County, Georgia, with Commissioner Boss Hogg running the show. It’s a given that everything Boss Hogg does, profits himself or his friends. That’s Just the way he rolls. Everyone accepts this, because that’s just the way business is conducted in that small fictional southern towns. Or so TV would have us believe.
Except it’s not Hazzard County, Georgia we’re talking about. It’s Tacoma, Washington.
The issue is the sale of the Click Network to Rainier Connect. And it is a sale: for all intents and purposes, a 40 year lease is exactly the same as a sale.
The most Hazzardish aspect of the Click saga is a sly move by our city council to declare Click “surplus.” In their wisdom from on high, our City fathers (and mothers) would have us think the sale of Click is too weighty an issue to let the voters actually decide (or conversely, they’re afraid people would vote their shady deal down). So they happily decided on the fiction of the surplus declaration.
Nevermind that such declarations are usually used for vastly smaller sales, say old trucks and computers that aren’t used anymore. What’s good enough for that is good enough for a $200 million asset like Click. Sure thing.
Sadly, this minor contrivance is necessary because the Tacoma City Charter (Section 4.6) clearly states that before any TPU asset can be sold or leased, there must first be a vote of the people authorizing such sale or lease.
In any normal functioning democracy, politicians would bend over backwards to ensure the Democratic process is followed. Particularly where there’s a contentious issue like Click’s profitability. They would err on the side of inclusion and consensual decision-making.
Apparently this is not the case in Tacoma, where Boss Hogg reigns Supreme. In Tacoma, the politicians give the bum’s rush to the Democratic process, patting us on the head and telling us they know better. These issues are far too complicated for mere citizens to understand. Right?
Wrong! The obvious answer is the surplus declaration has been wholly manufactured to cheat Tacomans out of their right to vote on the issue.
What can we do about this? You can call or write your local council member and demand that a true independent audit of the finances of Click be made to determine its profitability. Then and only then, if the independent audit does determine click is losing money, we must demand the sale of Click be put to a vote of the people before the council takes any action on a sale or lease.
This isn’t Hazzard County. Let’s not allow the politicians to run Tacoma like it is. Let’s tell Boss Hogg, “no!”
Opinion, originally printed in the Tacoma Weekly, November 3, 2019