Did Rothschild just say, 'Let them eat cake'?

    I have to wonder if any of the county commissioners had any idea how worried county employees are about their futures. And then, when employees download their thoughts during what can only have been an unscheduled stop on the road to reality in an open and uncharacteristically candid give and take meeting, Rothschild is quoted as saying it would be nice to show appreciation by giving out awards and plaques. Is that true?
     Let them eat cake?
     Some months ago, I stopped being surprised at anything either Rothschild or Commissioner Robin Frazier said. But this scenario is like walking unwittingly into a fun house on the arcades of a cheap circus.
     People who work for you are saying they can't meet their bills, and you respond by offering them a platitude in brass and wood, and perhaps a cheese sandwich.
     Maybe they should have seen this coming when they were bragging about how they were cutting costs and taxes, too.
     Three years ago I sat on the sidelines and declined to participate in empty rhetoric before a conference room full of county employees who were given an offer they couldn't refuse. There were a lot of nice remarks by my colleagues about how much we valued the contributions of the people who had worked years for a county paycheck, but even if the buyouts and forced retirements were the best option, I saw nothing to celebrate.
     When I ran for office, people would ask me if I could be counted on to cut taxes. I always said no. If we could cut expenses without neglecting gradual improvement and progress in catching up with what were among the lowest pay and benefits in the state for county employees and teachers, yes, I would do that.
     Eventually, after correcting years of neglect in pay and education spending, we reduced the homestead tax by several percentage points, which was actually better than a cut in the tax rate, but people didn't see the several hundred dollars that they saved, so it didn't mean much. Many would rather see a $40 cut in what they pay in the form of a reduction in the rate; it's simpler, even if it is less beneficial.
     Two people showed up in Manchester for a hearing on education spending in their community. Two.
    Given the fact that many are disheartened by the realities of the overall economy, I suppose you can make a case for excusing such abject apathy, but I won't buy it. Just because people had nothing to say does not mean there was nothing for them to learn.
It's okay to go to a public hearing and listen, despite what the radical populists preach.
     I have been hearing from many whose incomes or programs have suffered in these current hard times, but the saddest stories are from the ones who have had a front row seat to the ineptitude, hypocrisy and deafness of the current commissioners.
     In truth, the elected officials have a hard job. I knew they would. It started before they got here, and it will continue. But they have taken a sick horse and ridden it to ground over the backs of good people.
     A plaque won't do.