Democracy

Shanghai Transit Map

I had a funny thought yesterday after two unrelated brain inputs. First, I had a campaign worker at the front door at noon. She presented herself as a bright young person. Her candidate, while local, leaves me cold. He seems to represent all the Irish politics here in Boston which I don't like to acknowledge. But they rule. We spoke for five minutes. I told her my positives and negatives for her candidate's information. She seemed stunned that I even knew who he is. 

Earlier that morning I had heard a magazine piece on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition which somehow teamed up with being canvased in my brain. That piece was an interview with a British map expert. He was being questioned about the current trend in cities to take public input in designing subway maps, that multicolored spaghetti on train walls which mystifies but seldom clarifies. Like an ancient rune, it must be studied and deciphered, after which the code breaker often discovers he/she has missed the crucial stop.

The map expert decried public input into design as counterproductive. He explained that the most confusing spaghetti comes from this process. He enumerated specific examples. 

So, when I reflected on the discussion I had with the young canvasser at my front door about the twelve mayoral candidates here, I thought of the clipped British voice of the map man. I realized that these twelve candidates offered little selection and much confusion. They all agree on the things I dislike about the current direction of Boston's development. A few have quirky positions on minor points. One wants to tear down the city hall, a much loved and much hated icon of 1960's pseudo-Japanese brick. Another, who went from being a CEO of hospitals to CEO of high-rise construction,  is the only candidate who thinks building a gambling casino in Boston is a bad idea. Unfortunately, this opinion, which I share from a scientific position, tends to be presented with a tinge of Roman Catholic moralism which makes me itch.

Should a large city of over half million people be managed by someone chosen by popular vote? Reasonable question. After all, our public high schools only graduate 60% of their students. So, how bright can the average electorate be? Maybe it would make more sense for the mayor to be elected by the local councilors, who are more likely to be known in some form by their constituents. This model is commonly used and seems to work just as well. Cambridge, MA, the home of Harvard and MIT, elects its mayor from its city council. It was recently voted America's most walkable city. It is a clean and friendly environment with bike lanes and some of the craziest people in the metropolitan area of Boston. It seems to be managed just fine.