Municipal Government More Human

(Aired on July 14, 2010)

I knew there was a reason I enjoyed municipal government.  Because it's not sitting in city council meetings, believe you me.  Where else but at the municipal level would you be able to find the new, so-called progressive members of council like Nancy Bepple and Denis Walsh voting against affordable housing?  Both Bepple and Walsh registered votes against mobile home proposals planned for Ord Road and Dallas Drive.  And where else would you find a self-described "free-enterpriser" like Pat Wallace voting for increased regulation of private businesses?  The private businesses in question are the two local taxi cab companies.

I don't point this out to rail against so-called hypocrisy and condemn politicians for flip-flopping.  On the contrary, municipal government may be the only place where politicians can truly vote their conscience and exercise their own degree of common sense.  It's much more human, quite frankly.

At higher levels of government, with partisan politics and mindless block voting, there is no opportunity for rational individuals to consider all facets of an issue and vote accordingly.  Of course, you have broader jurisdiction and more money to work with, so it attracts a lot of interest. 

But more and more, I'm gaining greater respect for those who try to make a difference on a local level - be it school trustees, city councillors, or even those who volunteer for city committees.  As much as a politician might tout one way of thinking, that person should be able to vote in any direction they find most compelling.  Progressives won't always be right, and free-enterprisers won't always be right, but those who vote for the greater good can never be wrong.