Automotive Politics

I continue to be mystified by people who fail to understand the role image plays in our culture, and particularly where public figures and politics are involved. The unfortunate truth is that much of the time the truth is less important than the impression given by images or sound bites. It would be comforting to dismiss these facts as nothing more than a by-product of our media-saturated age, but even a casual review of American history will confirm that this has pretty much always been the case, at least where public figures are involved. Which makes the current flap in Gary, Indiana that much more baffling…

Regular readers of this space will recall a post from last summer where I commented on the cost savings available to the Chicago Police Department if they were to adopt hybrids or crossover vehicles instead of full-size SUV units. No one is likely to dispute the advantages of 4 wheel drive vehicles when traveling off-road or in deep snow, but the police SUVs were intended for ordinary urban patrol duties, and the primary argument in their favor was visibility (the SUV units are both easier to see in traffic and easier to see out of for the officers operating one). However the situation in Gary does not involve a city vehicle at all…

A story being reported in the South Bend Tribune tells the story of Gary Mayor Rudy Clay and his spirited defense of the city’s purchase of a new Hummer H3 for his personal use. The mayor has come under criticism for this purchase from both local and state sources given that the city is currently operating under a $36 million deficit and the Hummer is perceived as both expensive and wasteful to operate. As a political choice it is particularly obtuse, especially if (as several local sources have claimed) the Hummer replaces a similar vehicle purchased just two years ago…

Now, speaking as a native of Los Angeles, where city and county budgets are frequently larger than the budget of entire states (Los Angeles County, for example, has roughly the same population as the entire state of Michigan), I have to say that neither the deficit or the $30,000 price tag of the H3 look all that impressive. I can clearly remember the scandal that hit Los Angeles a few years ago when it was revealed that the President of the school district was spending $200,000 per year on his chauffer’s salary, and another $50,000 or so on his personal vehicle, in a time when that would have paid the salaries of 8 or 9 full-time teachers and the teacher’s union had just been asked to take a 5% pay cut in order to deal with a budget crisis…

Things are different in Gary, however. Unaccustomed to the idea of million-dollar perks for politicians (and $30 million movie contracts), the good people of Gary appear to be a bit concerned by their mayor spending funds the city does not have on his personal transportation, and the defensive comments (that it was $20,000 cheaper than a new Expedition would have been, and that the mayor saved $5,000 on the Hummer) do not appear to have helped. The question, at least from where I’m sitting, is why any of this would come as a surprise. The country is in the grips of the worst recession in a generation, the city of Gary is in dire financial straits, people are facing the loss of their jobs, their homes, and their hopes, and the mayor is telling them that he is entitled to a nice new car…

Under the circumstances, I can only hope that Mayor Clay has a backup career choice in mind, because if this is his idea of deft political maneuvering, I have to question how long he can survive in his current occupation…