At least you can’t call this politician a liar.
When a group of movers complained to local politicians at an Oregon town hall meeting about a recently passed law, they got a rough lesson in politics.
The movers were objecting to Senate Bill 2817, which forbids moving companies from using rental trucks to haul household goods.
Intended to crack down on rogue moving companies that don’t have their own trucks, it also penalizes movers who might use rented or leased trucks to meet demand during peak seasons or don’t keep any fleet at all — it’s expensive to keep a fleet of trucks year-round, particularly for the small moving companies that were complaining at the town hall.
Aside from the fairness of the law, the whole episode offers a mirror into how government sometimes works — and why people feel so alienated from it.
According to a report from Southern Oregon Mail Tribune, when the smaller movers asked how they could fight the bill, State Rep. Dennis Richardson was candid:
They probably can’t, because the law has already been passed.
But he did offer some tough-love hindsight.
“You needed a lobbyist,” Richardson said. “You needed someone who was specifically looking out for you.”
Politicians everywhere lament about the plight of small-business owners.
But so often, that voice often goes unheard — because it’s never sought out unless you have the resources to pay someone to be your voice. Which is exactly what small-business people (not to mention much of the general public) often lack the resources to do.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 8:02 am and is filed under Moving, Moving Industry.
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