It's a Brand New Year -- Why Not Make a Difference?

It’s the second day into a brand new year; the whole year stretches out before us like Glendale Park after a good snow storm. There aren’t any footprints yet - dogs and walkers haven’t left their “mark”. The air is cool and quiet, and the hills haven’t been shaved by sliders. The whole world seems brand new.

The year is ours to do with what we will. We can choose to make a difference or we can choose the status quo; it’s up to us. Indifference is a killer; Indifference will kill a city faster than anything else. Crime breeds when Indifference moves in. Properties falls into disrepair and businesses move out when Indifference sets up shop. The middle class takes flight when Indifference comes to town. The thing about Indifference is this; it doesn’t rob us at night - it’s a daytime con job that pretends to “be minding its own business”, when the business of Everett is everyone’s business.

Although Nobel Prize winner Elie Weisel warned us of the “perils of indifference” at the global level, there is still plenty of peril right here at home. Would this city have witnessed such brazen overspending at the school department or the bid rigging scandal if the School Committee had been “checking” the power of the Superintendent? Would the School Committee be so negligent in their oversight if they had people running against them? The answer is “no”. Complacency and inattention is what created the Superintendent and his School Committee - and it is up to the citizens of this city to take it back.

The “perils of indifference” aren’t limited to the School Department - they are also epidemic in city government. Listen to the silliness at some of the City Council meetings -- both branches--if you think they’re exempt. Political agendas abound, and instead of being a part of the solution, a number of elected officials are settling for obstruction and game playing. The “corner office” isn’t above it all, either. Everyone owns his/her own little piece of the Indifference pie.

Did Indifference move onto your street? Indifference is parking at the bus stop to run into Dunkin Donuts. Indifference is double-parking on Broadway. Indifference is letting litter blow all over Everett’s streets ...and looking the other way. Indifference is allowing ten people to rent an apartment meant for only 3. Indifference is assuming the rules are for everyone else but you.

Have you become Indifferent? Now is not the time for it. Now is the time for action, for participation, for paying attention. If you stand on the sidelines, indifference will make the plays for you. It’s time to get in the game.