The Government You Deserve

Last updated on November 4th, 2021 at 10:01 pm

Since creating my blog, I have attempted to avoid political topics because there are many other blogs and social media that live on these topics not to mention our unbiased media. Good news, I will attempt to make this blog about where you live and how to improve your life there or move elsewhere. Thomas Jefferson stated, “The government you elect is the government that you deserve”. I wanted to get that out because greater minds than mine have pondered this statement for a long time.

When you receive your property tax bill from your local government you see various lines indicating taxes for this and fees for that. Perhaps you agree with all of them because you participated in the decisions to create them. Or, perhaps you are part of the vast silent majority who looks at it and resolves that there is nothing to do about it. Don’t get me wrong about taxes, we must keep the machinery of “good” government running and protect our property values. Some taxes are absolutely warranted, others perhaps or perhaps not.

Some communities have a record of higher taxes

Some communities have a clearly set their direction regarding the types laws and taxation policies that are prevalent. Some communities believe they need every new gadget or process that has been invented. For example, recycling. Glass has no value in general. When you put glass bottles in your recycling container, they are probably going to a facility that will separate them from other trash and send them for recycling. Did you know that when that glass breaks in the sorting process that it often damages the machinery and on occasion inflicts pain on an operator? Yet, glass is made from sand and we will never run out of it. The net here is that you pay lots of money to get glass recycled that can go to a landfill and do no damage there.

You all know of something that your community spent money on that was not necessary. Some of you know of regulations that have made life more difficult and expensive. Just who makes these decisions?

At this point let me establish my bonafide. During my long career, I have worked with hundreds of districts, cities, counties, state and federal governments. My industry was highly regulated so I needed to understand the entire process of decision-making that affected my industry and business. What I found was enlightening. The information that I am providing in this blog is from my 20+ year career where among other things wrote two bills that became law in a very large state.

Local Government

First, let’s look at local government. Understand that at all levels of government, elected officials are on the surface responsible for managing government. Under the surface, bureaucrats do the day-to-day work and create the decisions for the elected officials to vote on. At the local level, most elected officials are part-time, they usually have very busy schedules balancing their own careers with assisting the community. It’s important to them that their staff research all issues and provide solutions for them to vote on. The solutions generally focus on one that staff believes is the best solution.

Most elected officials follow staff recommendations thus, most regulations are actually created by staff and “rubber-stamped” by elected officials. In fact, before the item comes up for a vote at a public hearing, the research and recommendations are circulated at meetings before the public meeting or just left on their desk. There are various rules about this process but needless to say, no elected officials walk into a public forum without knowing what they will be voting on. I believe that most elected officials have made up their minds on an issue before they walk into the room.

Public forum to discuss proposed ordinances

At the public forum (city council meeting, county commission meeting) individuals can talk about an issue before it is voted on. It’s a rare day that those opposed to what will become the decision will have an impact on the decision UNLESS. I will deal with the UNLESS later.

Understand that the city employees who manage the process with the possible exception of the City Manager or similar post are very young, many recently out of college. Department managers are a bit older but generally still young e.g. in their 30’s. Of course, this is not the case everywhere. In some communities, career employees can be older and wiser across the board.

In expereinced public employees can promote higher spending

Where we find a majority of inexperienced people, we find lots of requests to spend money on programs and new stuff. Traffic cameras, buzzers for sightless people,, etc. I am not saying that these things are good or bad but when communities struggle to pay their bills, the last thing they need is to spend on projects that are not necessary. Younger people have a nice salary and benefits, they have not endured hardships and may not understand why someone wants an 8′ fence when the requirement is for a 6′ fence.

I moved up the chain to a more experienced employee

Every time I ran into a roadblock with a younger employee, I moved up the chain to a more experienced employee who usually had the good sense to approve what I was asking for. When this did not happen, I went to the elected officials who would often put a bug into the City Manager’s ear to get it done. This is how politics works at the local level at least in my experience.

At the State level the system is even more tightly run by government employees and lots of them are as I mentioned above, recent graduates who want to conquer the world. They don’t pay much in taxes so the burden you may have owned property and vehicles does not particularly affect them. They are trying to do good and that costs money. Legislators are either full-time or part-time. The part-time legislators rely on staff even more than the full-time ones do for obvious reasons. Lobbyists who want their bills passed at the state level can get that done with less work in some respects than working at the local level considering the broad reach of state law.

People are very far from state government

People are very far from their state government, not in geography but daily contact. Yes, you can visit your state legislator and that person may agree with you but he/she is only one of many so your reach as an individual is reduced. That’s not to say you can not get something done, you can and there is a process for this but it’s a lot of work and takes money.

The federal government works much like the state government. Bureaucrats run everything and can issue administrative decisions which can impact your life. These unelected people have a big impact on our lives without the direct knowledge of the president or congress. Usually, if you want to get anything done in Washington you start with the bureaucrat and see if that person is with you or against you.

Back to the local government where you can have an impact if you want to. Remember the UNLESS from above? It’s absolutely amazing to me after all of these years that little has changed with local government concerning the number of residents required to get something done. I will explain this process here because you must understand how you may have been affected by a local ordinance you don’t like or one that you agree with. Before I do, this fictitious city has a population of 25,000.

How local government decides on issues

The process starts with someone in the community deciding that they want to get something done. Let’s use an example of a person who is tired of doggie droppings on the sidewalk. This person believes that putting signs with containers holding plastic bags for doggie droppings will help people keep the sidewalks clean. This person finds out that City x installed them for $x and that you use their process to determine that your city needs 50 of them. You approach a council member with a written request laying out the plan and the cost.

The council member likes the idea in part because their home is in one of those areas and they have not offered any legislation for a while. The council member approaches the city manager with the concept and asks the city manager to cost it out and create a feasibility study. At this point, I will leave out the several steps it takes to move forward to the “consent calendar” (a term used for a project where little if any protest is likely, it requires a simple majority vote).

The item comes up for a vote and comments are asked of residents. As it happens, 15 residents appear to speak against the item on the basis that is it taking money from playground equipment. The elected officials on occasion may know that this groundswell is around but just as often they are surprised at the number against it.

Groundswell of 15 against project

Considering this groundswell of negative comments the council members have three choices (or more), they can vote yes, they can vote no or they can send it back to staff for further review. With this “large” number of people and no clear alternative options the vote would probably be no, meaning it would not pass.

Groundswell, large, these terms are of course subjective. Look at the situation like this. The majority of time items on the agenda are voted for not against. As I mentioned the usually do not get on the agenda when council members understand that there are too many against it. How many is “too many”, well by actual numbers not very many residents as a percentage of the population.

In the example above, 15 people were enough to get the item voted down. 15 divided into a population of 25,000 represents .0006% of the population. My example can be expanded, let’s say that 250 people appeared against the item, it would have been voted down and 250 is 1%. Do you see how few people make a difference? The point here if you have not already picked up on it is that you can make a difference at the local level with far greater impact than at the state or federal level.

Local ordinance have daily impacts on your life

Local ordinances have daily impacts on your life. Consider the annoying pot hole on the street you use every day on your drive to work or to drop off the kids at day care. You wonder why the city will not repair it. Perhaps they have recognized the need but it’s not in the budget or they will get to it after they put up the doggie dropping pickup stations. If you are angry about the pot hole, organize some friends and write up a request detailing the issue with photos. Show up at a council meeting and talk about this or better yet, visit with a council member and give that person your petition for repair.

If there is no action in a reasonable amount of time, appear at a council meeting and bring it up. Bring lots of people with you. While the action will not be on the agenda, you can force it to get done by the bureaucrats. It does not take many to create a for or against vote. Understanding this approach you can be observant of what local government is proposing and support or oppose it. Better yet, run for public office and really serve the public by taking the temperature of your constituents.

Consider relocating to a community that reflects your values

Should you live in an area where the trends are against your wishes e.g. more regulations and taxes, you should consider relocating or becoming active. If you can not become active, consider relocating. If you decide to move, do your homework, look into the politics in the prospective area. Take a hard look at the tax structure and where it has been going e.g. upward, steady or dropping. Read articles about what the community believes are the most important things to residents. Look into the community master plan which is available on the internet.

I live along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Government here is very conservative meaning for purposes of this article that expenditures must make sense to the population or people will pack the meetings in opposition. The rate at which taxes can rise for homes is once every four years if at all. For large expenses, there are meetings and hearings well before the vote. Recently the county hired a person from a large city with resources who recommended that the county construct a performing arts facility at a highschool. The bond was very large for the size of the area.

Residents were upset at the proposal

Residents were upset that this was proposed by the outsider who came from a liberal area with resources thought the cost was reasonable. Perhaps it was based upon what was to be delivered but was it affordable? The community wanted any extra money to be used to upgrade the schools in general not by adding something that only a handful of prospective students would be interested in. The county commissioners put it on the ballot and it was voted down by a very large margin. It was clear to me that we have an activist community in that they pay attention to what their local government is doing and respond pro or con to those decisions.

I recall living in Orange County, CA when I was younger and it being a very conservative area, tax rates were fair, at least that is what my parents told me. Students had new schools, bands had instruments and uniforms, sports teams had uniforms and busses for away games etc. Roads were repaired and in general life was pretty good without political drama. Over the years the area became more amenable to letting local government do what they wanted. Tax rates went up, schools were in need of everything and spending in some cities went out of control. Public employees in the area earn more than people in the public sector. Social spending has risen faster than tax increases. Homelessness which did not exist when I was younger is a major problem.

You get the government you deserve

Going back to how I began this article, “you get the government you deserve”. People who live in these conditions as we see on the news diserve everything they experience. Rising crime, rising poverty, homeless problems, deteriroating public property and on and on. At the local level it takes few brave people to make everything right. It takes courage in some communities where you could be berated for trying. Change is possible for the good.

Sorry folks, I decided to leave my previous environment which was going downhill. While I could and did get involved at the local level, the negative progression was pushing too hard and the state was already on the decline with no future in sight. I moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast where life is similar to how it was when I was growing up, this is what I discovered:

• Friendly people
• Great culture of helping and involvemenet
• Conservative local government
• State conservative government with resistance to increasing taxes (the actually lowered it a few years ago)
• Low fees and taxes, no state income tax on retirement income after age 65
• Good roads, well maintained public buildings and spaces

I just wanted you to know there is a place for you, the right people

By the way, I am not suggesting that everyone move to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I just wanted you to know that if you become so disillusioned you need a change, there is a place for you. I have told my wife in the past we want only the right people to move here. She said that I should not say that in this strange environment that it may be misinterpreted. I explained to her that I always state what I mean when I say, “we want only the right people to move to the Mississippi Gulf Coast”. So this is what I mean:

• You really want to move here for a better life
• Take personal responsibility for things you create and do
• You don’t expect government to do everthign for you
• Children are taught to be good Americans, not citizens of the world and you are ok with this
• You like the culture here, you want to be a part of it and are not interested in changing it
• You agree to leave avacado toast etc. behind and embace the great food culture
• You can co-exist with people who attend church and raise their children to say “sir or mam”.
• You are willing to support yourself without local or state assistance
• Eat crawfish

The above are the right people in my opinion. I apologise if I have offended anyone by stating my personal beliefs. Of course people collecting social security (money we all put away), military pensions (deserved) and others who need help are welcome. Churches in this area are a prime source of help to individuals as they always have before government programs came along. I am willing to allow you to live here if you do not like crawfish but you are required to try them. Understand that you are not permitted to tell people in public that you are adverse to crawfish for fear of retribution in the form of laughter.

NOTE: Most of my articles are not full of citations of studies etc. I usually write about my own experiences and this article is based upon my decades of interaction with government employes and elected officials. I have found that my experiences in Mississippi with this group has been the most rewarding of all of the other agencies across the nation that I have come in contact with. Also, most government employees want to do good and have a good attitude. The same is true of elected officials however both groups need supervision by those who have elected them.