By Linda MacKay

I invested a lot of time while living in Lebec trying to help make a fair representative body for the region. 

Of course the MCMAC, just like the former Mountain Communities Town Council, has no real decision-making power—other than the recommendations they make as a body to the powers who directly impact the Mountain Com-munities with their decisions.
 
But I still believe that an elected MCMAC or town council can be an important vehicle to provide a credible voice for the area.

Even though an elected MCMAC would cost more, it’s what democracy is all about.  
Sure, governing with little meaningful input from the people who are being governed is much more efficient (ask any dictator), and maybe less financially expensive, but is that what people want?

It’s important for people to have confidence that their ideas and beliefs are playing a real role in shaping their own community. 

The local folks need to choose who represents them on the MCMAC.

I have faith in the folks of the Mountain Communities. There are a lot of smart people living there and I believe they would vote for responsible representatives to serve on a MCMAC through an at-large selection of people.

Linda MacKay was the former president of the Mountain Communities Town Council, co-founder and president of the Boys & Girls Club, and was appointed by former Supervisor Ray Watson to his MCMAC. She resigned, saying the appointees were intended to be ‘rubber stamps.’

This is part of the May 31, 2013 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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