To critics who suggest Monday evening’s opening volley by the City Council was too slow and unproductive in an effort to bring a citywide ban on Styrofoam food containers, Mayor Jim Clarke has a message:
Democracy can be messy.
“It is very hard to develop a policy when you have 20-some speakers and each one has two minutes,” the mayor said.
In a dramatically striking moment yesterday morning, Mr. Clarke and his vice mayor, Jeff Cooper, pushed back firmly against a chorus of critics who lathered them hard for the way they conducted Monday’s meeting.
In a 540-word statement headlined “We’re in a Hurry, Too – Say Clarke and Cooper,” they explained it was necessary to ascertain clarity and accuracy before emotionally plunging starkly into the hot pot of a ban.
Fighting fireworks from peeved, impatient who don’t understand or refuse to tolerate process, activists, Mr. Clarke explained his unusual written response.
“I saw a lot of postings on social media,” the mayor said. “They were portraying what we did in an incorrect way.
“I wanted to get out in front of it and set the record straight.”
The steamy criticisms followed a familiar name-calling pattern.
“They called us stooges of corporate interests and reading from the corporate talking points,” said Mr. Clarke.
“One person suggested I was more in favor of dropping Styrofoam in the ocean than putting it in a landfill.”
Before and after the City Council, Mr. Clarke judged that “the feeling was, ‘A lot of unanswered questions are out there. There are many different models of bans that we can study and learn from.’”
His point: Process takes time.
“There always are unanswered questions about can you recycle these things or not recycle them,” he said.
The mayor is hoping to have a report from the Council’s Sustainability Subcommittee by October. Further procedural steps, however, could delay a ban implementation until winter.
