By Evan Falchuk

Sometimes, the most important events in your life are the ones that, in the moment, don’t seem so important. It’s true in news and politics, too. Here, in no particular order, are the stories from 2014 that fit that we should be thinking about more as we enter 2015:

1. More than 2 million people didn't vote in the 2014 election. There were a lot of reasons to vote: a full slate of constitutional officers, a U.S. Senate race, four controversial ballot questions, dozens of other races, and a record amount of political spending. And yet fewer people voted than even the low pre-election predictions suggested. It's a trend across the country, with voter turnout at its lowest point in 72 years. Something is happening to our democracy, and it's not good.

2. More than half of the Massachusetts legislature ran unopposed. If you were one of the people who did vote, it's likely your ballot had on it lots of people running without an opponent. It's become typical for members of the state legislature to run unopposed. It's hard to feel like your vote matters if most of the time voters don't have a choice – and it's no wonder voters don't feel like their representatives are really accountable to them.

3. Boston submits a bid to host the Olympics. This wasn't just some idea – Boston actually submitted a proposal to the U.S. Olympic Committee. It did this with the support of the Mayor and the Governor – and with effectively zero public input. Developers, unions, and the elected officials they support stand to win big if Boston is chosen. It's fair for ordinary voters, faced with skyrocketing health care and housing costs, to look at this "process" and wonder how much they really matter.

4. Legislature votes to borrow more than $1 billion to expand the Boston Convention Center. Convention centers have an unfortunate history in Massachusetts as a way to hand out jobs to the politically connected, so you would think today's elected officials would take special care in being transparent about this project. But that didn't happen. In the last weeks of the legislative session, a bill was passed and quickly signed by the Governor. At a time when priorities like local aid, veterans and senior services and others have such great needs, this project will be a monument to the priorities our elected officials really have.

5. Voters repeal the gas tax. One of the key pieces of Governor Patrick's effort to reverse decades of underinvestment in roads, bridges and public transit went down to defeat. Voters don't seem to have much of an appetite for new taxes, and it has a lot to do with a belief that the government doesn't spend taxpayer money wisely. Voters are willing to pay for government, but they don't like to feel like they are being ripped off (or that their hard-earned tax money will be spent on things like…Olympics and Convention Centers).

6. Boston Mourns Heroes from Engine 33. As a fire rapidly spread in a Boston apartment building, firefighters from Engine 33 ran in to fight the flames. Two were trapped as 45 mile per hour winds fanned the flames, and perished. This tragedy must remind us - for all the bad news about our police, military and others, we must never forget that there are heroes among us who go to work each day not knowing if they will ever come home again.

7. Rents go up, and so does more high-end housing. If you live in Boston, according to the Boston Globe, you need to make $50 an hour in order to afford the median rent. The trouble? The median income of renters is about $14 an hour. It's a problem happening across the Commonwealth, because of decades of policy that result in building high-end housing, instead of the smaller, multi-family housing that experts say is desperately needed. Zoning reform, one of the basic steps the state could take to fix this, failed again to make it through the legislature. The result: more gentrification affecting poorer communities, and more 40Bs affecting better-off ones. No one is happy, except if you're making money off the status quo.

8. Legislature approves $40 million to renovate House and Senate chambers. On the heels of the Governor spending more than $11 million to renovate his offices, the legislature decided it was time to fix up their place, too. It's choices like these, when voters know that so many other priorities go wanting, that undermine the confidence and faith people must have in our government.

9. North Adams Regional Hospital and Quincy Medical Center Close. At a time when health care spending is at all-time highs, why would hospitals close? Well, in the modern health care economy – dominated by Partners, the monopolistic system that is distorting the market – hospitals that can't fill their beds with high-paying patients have a hard time staying in business. The trend of mergers, price increases and closings will continue – the only question is, who's next?

10. SuperPACs dominate Governor's race. It's hard to remember that SuperPACs didn't exist before 2010, but it's true. In the general election phase of the governor's race, they spent close to $17 million – more than the Baker and Coakley campaigns spent themselves. If you're wondering why campaigns and policymaking have become increasingly disconnected from the concerns of ordinary voters, the old saying is as true today as ever: "follow the money."

May your 2015 be full of health, happiness and success.



Evan Falchuk is Chairman of the United Independent Party and former candidate for Massachusetts governor.

