Today I’m recommending a book written by a Spivack. That’s not a misspelling. It’s the way Miranda Spivack, the author of “Backroom Deals in Our Backyards,” spells her last name, although it’s pronounced the same as mine.
Spivack is a journalist, a career I appreciate and respect. In fact, she’s been a journalist for more than two decades. Her book is one that people in small towns should read. The writing of this book required the many journalistic skills Spivack developed after many years of news reporting.
There will soon be a copy of her book in the Los Banos Branch of the Merced County Library, for those who’d like to read it for themselves.
Miranda (I feel comfortable calling her by her first name because we might be related) is my kind of journalist. She has high praise for the underdog, as I have. In fact, her underdogs at times were so far under, they had a hard time getting up after being repeatedly knocked down.
Her book tells the story of five ordinary people who fought doggedly for just causes on behalf of their communities. Each of them had to go head to head, tooth and nail against entrenched bureaucracies, which included their local city councils, state representatives and strong corporate interests.
These five people did all this in an era (which continues today) when many small-town newspapers no longer exist, newspapers which once had full-time journalists who had the time to research complex stories and provide detailed, accurate information.
The five ordinary individuals in her book had no choice but to rely on social media and the internet to share what they had learned and eventually make things happen.
What makes these five people so remarkable is that they didn’t give up, in the face of resistance, disparagement and belittling. They were more than persistent. They were relentless. And eventually they succeeded, after years of work at no pay, against all odds.
Spivack calls these five individuals “accidental activists” and “heroes,” as the subtitle of her book puts it: “How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back.”
But I doubt any of my readers would recognize the names of these heroes: Michael Hickey, Diane Cotter, Esther Calhoun, Glenn Rodriguez or Richard Boltuck.
Nor would many of my readers recognize the names of the small towns they lived in: Hoosick Falls, New York; Worcester, Massachusetts; Uniontown, Alabama; or Bannockburn, Maryland.
Spivack explains in detail why they are heroes and what they had to go through to improve the lives of their communities’ residents.
Michael Hickey wondered why so many people in his small town were getting cancer and dying. It took him years to prove that a local manufacturing plant was dumping toxic chemicals into the river running through town that affected the drinking water.
Diane Cotter wondered why her husband Paul, a firefighter, had developed prostate cancer in his early 50’s, which made the rest of his life difficult. It took her years to prove it was caused by toxic chemicals in his firefighting protective gear.
Esther Calhoun wondered why so many of her community residents were getting sick and why her drinking water was murky and brown. It took her years to show it was caused by tons of coal ash being dumped into a local landfill.
Glenn Rodriquez wondered why prisoners with long years of good behavior were being turned down for parole. It took him years to show that this was the result of bad data in the prison’s software system.
Richard Boltuck wondered why a left-turn signal couldn’t be installed by the entrance to a high school on a state highway. Amazingly, even this simple fix took him years to accomplish, but only after a tragic accident at that intersection killed three members of a family and seriously injured a fourth.
In each of these five cases, when the individuals looked for details that were supposed to be part of the public record, they were stymied by the resistance of local and state officials to provide it. They discovered there was no transparency, and often officials went out of their way to prevent public information from being released to the public.
Along the way, each of these individuals found at various times that government officials were incompetent, negligent and/or corrupt. Often elected officials sided with private businesses or corporations rather than work in the best interests of their communities.
Spivack goes into detail explaining that often the lack of transparency was the result of private companies, contracted by local governments, using a variety of means to prevent information from being made public, including hiding behind the term “trade secrets.”
As I read through the five cases in her book, I became more and more frustrated, irritated and angry at the many attempts by officials to hide what should be public information, all to protect self-interest above the good of community residents. And I developed more and more respect for the heroes who kept fighting against almost insurmountable odds.
As I read the book, I remembered what happens when small town newspapers shut down, with the resulting loss of professional reporters who could investigate serious problems.
Without an active local newspaper in their towns, these individuals had to investigate on their own. Eventually they asked for the help of other people who were encountering the same issues.
In one of her last chapters, Spivack provides what she calls a “Playbook for Accidental Activists,” with ten tips or suggestions. These include using the internet to find other people encountering the same problem, learning to file public records requests and finding writers from community groups who might want to tell their stories.
I have a personal note to add to this column. In 1988 my older sister, Marianne Spevak, suddenly and strangely developed leukemia, which progressed rapidly until she died six months later at the all-too-young age of 54.
My sister Joan, my brother Frank and I all suspected it was caused by the river next to the garden where Marianne spent many hours growing corn, tomatoes and strawberries. We were all tempted to go to battle against a company that for years had dumped toxic waste into that river. But we didn’t.
Fortunately, some person or persons did, and years later the Illinois town in which this happened was declared a federal Superfund Toxic Waste Site. Yes, I could relate to the issues Spivack’s heroes encountered.
Why do I think “Backroom Deals in Our Backyards” is a book people in all small towns should read? Because the issue of transparency, or rather the lack of transparency, is one that can easily happen in any small town.
Incompetence, negligence and/or corruption and attempts to cover up incriminating facts can be part of any town’s politics.
It’s up to all of us, not just newspaper reporters, to be vigilant about this. If we Americans want to continue to have a government of the people, by the people and for the people, we need to demand transparency and the release of public information from our local officials.
John Spevak’s email is john.spevak@gmail.com.
