Good Governance, Milton City Council

The Simple Life of Councilman Burt Hewitt

Posted on by Milton Coalition in Good Governance, Milton City Council

Keep It SimpleAugust 20, 2017

Certain politicians in Milton are lightning rods for controversy.  Yesterday, we exposed one of those politicians, Council Member Matt Kunz, who has positioned himself as an unapologetic champion for developers in Milton.  Such advocacy is bound to elicit the ire of ordinary citizens.

On the other hand, certain elected officials largely escape controversy.  Burt Hewitt is one of those politicians.  Mr. Hewitt’s life is pretty simple.  Why?  Because Mr. Hewitt purposely stays out of the spotlight.  He is deferential to citizens, even a small minority that largely (and often noisily) disagrees with him.  And he is not constantly skulking around in the shadows, promoting the agenda of Milton’s Special Interests.  Most importantly, you know where Mr. Hewitt stands . . . and that is squarely on the side of citizens.  Based on my observations, he applies a simple set of principles to his voting:

  1. Hewitt will never vote for any ordinance, rezoning, etc. that will (or even might) increase density. Accordingly, he is against those things that enable higher density, such as community septic, sewer extension, and complex re-zonings.
  2. Hewitt likes to keep things simple and clear. He understands that complexity and ambiguity provide opportunities for manipulation, particularly by Special Interests.
  3. Hewitt does not like delay. He does not like “kicking the can down the road.”  He understands that dithering (like complexity) also provides opportunities for manipulation.

Applying these three principles, you can predict with 90% accuracy how Mr. Hewitt will vote on a particular matter before Council.  That is a good thing . . . we need to know what principles guide our Council Members and be assured they will consistently hew to these principles.  But more importantly, we need to know that Council Members are advocating for the prerogatives of citizens, not Special Interests.  Burt Hewitt is proof that life can be pretty darn simple for an elected official . . . that sides with citizens.

Advocating For Good Governance,

Tim Becker

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