From The Black Perspective: The Cassandra Moye Affair – Another Viewpoint

www.deerfieldbeachusa.com  by Jeff Sayles

Getting It Right - 08/18/09

Another good article this morning by Wayne Adams on the Black Perspective blog about Monday night's meeting concerning Cassandra Moye. Mr. Adams seems optimistic that the Moye affair has been resolved by the employees' union. He concludes:

At the end of the day, we came out to support what was right. My hope is that this energy can continue to resonate all the way into our community and continued involvement into our local government.

While I disagree slightly with Wayne that there was not a racial component to this story (I think we should recognize that race or ethnicity enters into some matters at City Hall and sometimes into the commentary), I agree with him that there are inconsistencies between Edmund's story and Peggy Noland's statements about the Moye case. The upshot is that we may never know for sure.

Based on my observation of Mrs. Noland over a period of some 16 plus years, and looking at what has been written and said, I personally believe that she said something to George Edmunds that pushed him into his action against Cassandra Moye. Moye lucked out, in a way, because Edmunds did not do it by the book.

Notice that the operative word here is believe, not know. I have no way of knowing what was and was not said, and it would be irresponsible for me, even as just an amateur journalist, to report what is only speculation as a fact. And I certainly do not know what was in Mayor Noland's head if she said it -- I mean I don't know her intent.

It's a fact of life, though, that good things can come out of bad. Let's all hope that the "energy" of that meeting does continue to resonate and inspires greater interest in local government in the black community and among all people involved with this issue.

One thing that is not racial is apathy. Apathy in this town is a major problem that goes from the Deep Blue to Mount Trashmore. If this meeting cuts through some of that apathy, that's an encouraging development. Mr. Adams, I hope, will be instrumental in keeping up the momentum.

This may be simplistic, but this is how I visualize the civic community of Deerfield Beach. There are, first, people under 18 and people over 18, most of whom are qualified to vote (about 60,000). Then there are those who register to vote (around 40,000). Then there are those who vote in national elections (around 28,000). Then there are those who vote in city elections (around 6,000). Finally, there are those who actually participate in some way in local civic affairs. I have no exact metrics, but I think of this elite group as the 1 percent. I also conceive of another group, still small in number, that don't participate much, but are interested enough to participate or speak up occasionally.

The problem, as I see it however, is not that people don't vote. To vote or to abstain or to be completely uninterested is a right that people have. I'm not convinced that the bottom line results of most elections would be different if twice as many people voted. So while actions like voter registration drives have a certain dynamic, voter registration doesn't completely address the fundamental problem.

That problem is that there is not enough participation, and even more significant, is that some demographic categories may be underrepresented in the so-called 1 percent. This may include people from the black community and relatively younger people -- that is, the 30-50 year old group.

It is one of the ironies of modern-day local politics that the one level of government in which citizens have the greatest opportunity for direct participation is the level that seems to attract the least interest. And that the people who would seem to have the greatest interests at stake in the city, like the relatively younger people, are the ones who participate less.

It's from the 1 or 2 percent that most future leadership for the city is drawn. A consequence of this thin layer of participation is demonstrated by the last city election. Who ran for mayor? Three newcomers (two of whom came out of nowhere) and three retreads. And who got the votes? Let's just say the newcomers didn't stand a chance, probably because the small number of people who bothered to vote identified more closely with the retreads. Then we wonder why things don't change.

So, if in fact there is an energy and momentum, which leads to greater interest and participation, this is a positive development.

Before I leave this subject, I might note that my simple (and by my own admission, simplistic), civic community model is complicated by the fact that each of the four political districts, which correspond to distinct communities, is organized differently to some extent and so the dynamics of each varies a little from the others.

The east side is the oldest community and historically corresponds with the whole political community before the westward expansion and the Voting Rights Act. It still has traditions, I think, rooted in that particular history. District 3 is clearly dominated by CVE, but that may be changing. West side residents are involved in homeowners' groups quite a lot, and this probably generates some interest in community and civic affairs, as well. The current city commissioner from District 4 seems to have been born from that movement.

My impression is that the secular political community in District 2 tends to be matriarchal. A strong male personality in that sector could be the key to overthrowing this regime, which has dominated for 20 or so years. The downside of the meeting last night is that it was organized by clergy, not by secular leaders. Still, it could produce a momentum from which a new secular leadership -- male and female -- might emerge. It all remains to be seen.

Contact Jeff at jeff@deerfieldbeachusa.com