Where Does the Buck Stop?

Community Green Space Marred by Garbage

Situated at the intersection of Memorial Drive and JFK Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, John F Kennedy Memorial Park was once a site for MBTA car barns with soil polluted by petroleum. It is now a green haven surrounded by mature trees and enjoyed by the local community and tourists alike.

On weekends, however, the garbage compactors overflow to such an extent that there are mounds of excess litter that become scattered by vermin. This unsightly and unhygienic garbage is cleared in due course by workers, but why should the park be allowed–predictably throughout the year–to get into this state in the first place? The obvious solution: provide more compactors.

Nobody Cares

Since April 2022, Howard  has tried in vain to get this issue resolved. He and Shinri have written to:

• Department of Conservation and Recreation four times
  Result: Two responses to say his messages were forwarded

• Cambridge City Council
  Result: Two members forwarded his message to the Department of Public Works, one also forwarded his message to the Harvard Square Business Association

• Member of Congress, Katherine Clark
  Result: Automatic acknowledgment

• Harvard Kennedy School (located right next to the park)
  Result: Message forwarded

Howard has explained politely, attached photographs to illustrate the extent of the problem, and offered to contribute funds for the purchase of new compactors. There has been zero substantive response and the garbage continues to accumulate. The buck has been passed…. with 100% effectiveness.

One of many letters sent out over the last half year

 A Wider Issue?

Our disappointment and frustration with this issue is linked to a wider problem. Responsible citizens who believe in the power of a democratic government to do “good work” are alarmed when belief in the efficacy of government is repeatedly undermined. Consider the dismay that many of us felt when Donald Trump railed against the “Deep State” or Ronald Reagan claimed, “Government is not the solution to the problem, it is the problem.”

But it's hard to justify a stance that embraces responsible governing institutions when good-faith efforts to fix even the simplest of problems are ignored, unaddressed, and /or rebuffed. We are reminded of a classic text by respected political scientist and authority on public administration, James Q Wilson. In a telling comparison, he contrasted credentialed employees at the Watertown MA Registry of Motor Vehicles, who routinely keep constituents waiting for hours, with teenagers at a nearby McDonald's who, with a short period of training, serve dozens of customers satisfactorily within a few minutes.

We look forward to the date when simple solutions to problems of the sort we’ve described here can be effected in a timely and satisfactory manner. We'd like to see academic institutions tackle the problem of bureaucracy in a democracy and come up with solutions so blog posts like this are no longer necessary!