The Daily Times

Group seeking its real VOICE
Could be force to reckon with

In summation:

Grass-roots political activism is a splendid phenomenon, but it should not contrive to create problems or stir up issues unless the public is truly behind the cause.

Grass-roots political activism is often a force to be reckoned with. In Wicomico County, a group of residents concerned about a steep increase in property taxes organized a petition drive and got a referendum on the 2000 ballot to cap the amount of revenue the county can derive from property taxes. The organization, VOICE Inc. (which stands for Voters Opposed to Increased City and County Expenditures), rose from out of nowhere and quickly became the center of a political firestorm.

When VOICE's referendum passed with more than 60 percent of the county's voters approving the 2 percent revenue cap, the group, believing itself to be a true political force, turned to other issues. First, it championed an elected school board for Wicomico County, but people just weren't fired-up enough to get on board.

In 2002, VOICE fielded three candidates for County Council, including the group's founder and main spokesman, Don Coffin. Not one of them was elected. Immediately following the 2000 election, when the revenue cap was passed and a real estate transfer tax was overturned as a result of VOICE's efforts, concerned citizens in nearby counties, awed by the group's successes, expressed interest in joining forces to become a regional organization, but that never happened, either.

Although VOICE may rise to the occasion again if a pressing issue arouses the public's ire, it has made some strategic errors. If the goal is to be a true grass-roots political force, then VOICE must be an open, public organization and allow the public and the news media to attend its meetings. But VOICE, which recently elected new officers, holds closed, private meetings. When asked by a reporter recently about the size of its membership, VOICE's new president, John Palmer, said what the organization is doing right now is none of the political establishment's business. He also said more people attend VOICE meetings than County Council meetings. But there is no way to verify that because the meetings are closed. Although Palmer called VOICE "the mainstream," there is no evidence to back it up.

VOICE has been recently called a one-issue group. Among criticisms leveled at the group is that it calls for cuts in county spending, but has never come up with a detailed plan to do so. In fact, little specific direction ever comes from VOICE, just charges that too much is spent, taxes are too high, and the county and the school board need to cut the fat (but without saying what constitutes that "fat").

Is VOICE all washed up? Maybe not. It may lie dormant or years, only to rise from the ashes like a phoenix if the citizenry is ever spurred to outrage by some act of their county government. But is it a political force on a par locally with Republican and Democratic parties? Not even close.

Grass-roots politics are a splendid phenomenon. VOICE was organized from the ground up in response to a specific issue that evoked such outrage in voters that some kind of explosion was almost certain. But it lacks the substance to carry it beyond that single issue.

VOICE should not disband. But it should also refrain from giving the impression that it is fishing for a new cause or trying to create a storm where there is none. What VOICE should do is wait quietly until the next time public opinion erupts over a government that oversteps its bounds or somehow tries to impose a cure that's worse than the disease. Then the group will have the power to change our community for the better, as a force for positive change.

Originally published August 2, 2004.