Media Borough Council, It's Time to Move On

When our Founding Fathers created our American political system, they established structures for government to face, resolve and deal with the public issues of our society. This, however, presupposed that the elected leaders of government would analyze, evaluate and make decisions based upon the circumstances facing them and the popular will that they themselves were supposed to represent.

Government was a device to enable our citizens to solve common problems, not ignore them and actually make matters worse.

In the case of the "endless" 3rd Street Bridge controversy in Media, we see a textbook example of how government does not work and how the political system actually can let it's own citizens down and subvert their will.

This matter has been kicked down the road by Media's political leaders since the 1980s with constant wrangling about who is responsible, who should pay for the dangerously deteriorating dambreast and how to pass the buck from one level of government to another. In fact, the continuing controversy came to resemble more of a sandlot children's playground brawl more than anything else. Who? Me take responsibility? Was the common point of view of far too many council members in those day.

But finally, in 2010, a new coalition of responsible council members took the bull by the horns, and did what the Founding Fathers expected them to do—govern, lead and take responsibility to solve a problem.

, funds to finance the project obtained and a practical plan established to rebuild the bridge for vehicular traffic and the dambreast. The way was clear for the new council seated in for the best interests of both Media's citizens and those of our surrounding municipalities and our school district.

But then what happens?

The supposedly responsible newly elected officials begin to backslide on "a solved problem" by pandering to a small group of self-interest individuals who are determined to stop this project by cloaking themselves in the false narrative that they are and politically pressuring the council members to totally undermine the rebuilding of an historic transportation artery, vital to Media's commerce, public safety and the safe and efficient transportation of our school children.

At every stage of "this endless wrangling" since January as the newspapers call it, we have seen the popular will of the majority of the people of Media and its surrounding neighbors subverted and held hostage by unelected and who strive to intimidate our "so called leaders" who were elected, not to represent a small group of willful people, but the public interest of 5,000 Media residents and taxpayers.

The council leadership has become bogged down, diverted and paralyzed and is now in danger of losing the $3.6 million the state has allocated for this project, something the opponents of this project seem to be intent on causing so the bridge will never be reopened.

This is not what government and political responsibility is all about. For eight months now, this poor example of representative government has wasted time, money and undermined respect for itself with the people of Media for pandering to the wishes of the few, at the expense of the many.

It is now time for council to redeem itself, rise up and end this charade. It is time to restore people's faith in their leaders. It is time for Media Borough Council to approve a two-way vehicular bridge that will serve all the people of Media and its neighbors and time for Media Borough Council itself to put this already resolved matter behind us and move on to the important unresolved issues of our town and not re-plow plowed ground, again and again.

Stand up to the special interests blocking the popular will as our Founding Fathers would want you to do, and LEAD!