Do Re Mi

Published June 17, 2015 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette

     If you weren’t there, you missed a great city council meeting in Lindsay last Tuesday.  It’s not exactly what I had in mind when I advocated for public participation, but I guess it’s a start.

 
    Verbal rotten tomatoes were still flying at Mayor Padilla, who is taking most of the heat for the three council members sidelined by Rich Wilkinson’s sleight of hand.  Heck, one person even blamed her for the severance package he wangled out of the city while she was sitting outside that closed session, recused for “conflict of interest” by his charge of conspiracy. Most of the accusations were leveled by Rich’s supporters from the middle class, which just goes to show there’s no accounting for taste. 
 
    I myself chose not to speak, but to sing.  It probably wasn’t the smartest decision I ever made, but I’d had it with speaking.  After the special meeting on June 2, I was so demoralized I considered giving up council meetings altogether and trying something more fun, like picking oranges or writing ad copy.  But then, in my head I heard a line from an Alice Walker poem, and decided to try for the big picture this time.
  
   The big picture, in my mind, is justice.  Will the elected representatives make decisions that benefit the majority of the population and the common good, or will they elect to help their friends and relatives first, assuming some benefit will trickle down to the rest of the community when they prosper?  In my mind, Rich Wilkinson was put in top-gun position to keep the former from happening and to keep the latter in place. 
 
     So, to celebrate the end of that era, I gallantly hauled my autoharp to the podium.  First, I thanked everyone involved in liberating Rich from this community, reminding them that his permanent appointment to city manager/chief of public safety ignited the recall effort of 2011.  I reminded everyone of the evening in 2010 when 800 people came to the city council meeting held in the old high school gymnasium, and how eloquently Sr. Seraphim Rivera remonstrated the old council members for not knowing what it’s like to lay awake nights not knowing how you’re going to pay your water bill.  And then I thanked the three beleagured members for holding the fort, because at least now we have people on the council who understand what that’s like.
 
    Then, in lieu of throwing a street party, I sang the third verse of John Pitney’s song “Walking for Justice,” which goes:  “Each time a woman/ each time a man/ stands up for justice/ and anyone can,/ the heavens are singing/ the whole world rejoices./ Walkers for justice/ lift up your voices./ We’re walking for justice.”
 
    Somehow the big picture got lost.  Forget Rich: the struggle that night was keeping the powers that be in charge of choosing the next city manager.  I’d have done better to bring a Woody Guthrie song like “Do Re Mi.”  You remember that one, right?  “If you ain’t got the do re mi, folks, if you ain’t got the do re mi, … California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see, But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot if you ain’t got the do re mi.”


     See you next time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trudy Wischemann is a writer who is not thinking of going on solo tour – yet.  You can send her your favorite protest songs c/o P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.