How's That Bed You Made, Chuck? Comfy?

Last Thursday, we talked about Measures J and K - San Jose-specific items which would revise and renew funding mechanisms based on telephone surcharges.

I want you to pay close attention to this quote from a concerned citizen interviewed by the Merc for a story today:

"I know they have to get revenue somehow," said [Ms. Patte] Hempel, 63. "But city officials should take a little less money. They waste so much money in so many ways."

Now who, during most of 2005 and 2006, could have helped create such a perception in the minds of voters?

And, in a nutshell, you see the problem Chuck faces. After ridiculously (although no doubt earnestly) railing against drops leaking from the City's bucket, he has to convince people that it's worth repairing now that the bottom has fallen off.

The problem, as Congress is learning as they debate a $700 billion bail-out, is that it is almost impossible for humans to get a sense of scale around the budget. A million dollars seems to me like a lot of money. So does a billion. And a trillion. Obviously, I understand the order of magnitude difference, but not on an emotional level.

So when Ms. Hempel rehashes the canard about the general wastefulness of government, it may be in large part because these senses of scale collapse. The City paid too much for furniture for the new City Hall? Well, then, I'm not going to approve measures that would provide tens of millions of dollars in critical revenue to police, fire, roads and economic development.

Measures J and K are important for the future of the City, and should be an easy sale to the public, since it reduces money they're already paying. But Chuck, and his little friend Tom McEnery, and that guy Pierre who comes to Council meetings - they've invested a lot of political capital trying to build power for themselves by bad-mouthing the City government. Well, guys - you're the government now. And if the budget needs to shed some cops and quality-of-life funding, it's going to happen on your watch.

Is there a pea under this mattress?