Clancy DuBos / Eyewitness News Political Analyst and Gambit political columnist
The bribery trial of Mark St. Pierre presents a cautionary tale about money, power and greed.
It also debunks the popular notion that government should operate like a business. Truth is, democratic government is the last thing that should operate like a business as Gregory Meffert and Mark St. Pierre so vividly proved.
Let’s start with the basics: Businesses are dictatorships. In business, the boss makes all decisions, period. In our democracy, the people are the boss, at least in theory.
After weeks of testimony about how Meffert and St. Pierre — two successful business guys — turned City Hall’s I-T Department into their personal A-T-M machine, it should be obvious that the last thing we need is to run city government “like a business.”
Sure, businesses are efficient. Dictatorships are always more efficient than democracies — especially for those at the top. But democracies tend to last a lot longer and ultimately do a lot more good for the greatest number of people.
So the next time you hear some big-shot business guy saying we need to run government like a business think of how Greg Meffert and Mark St. Pierre ran things. Then, thank your lucky stars that government doesn’t run like some businesses.
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