Perhaps you've heard the phrase, “All politics is local”. This phrase was first used by Washington AP bureau chief Byron Price in 1932, and Tip O’Neill first used the term in 1935 (and made it popular) when he entered politics. I would venture that it's one of the often-repeated, most debated utterances about politics in US history. I'm not going to join a debate, because I firmly believe that all politics IS local.
We put great emphasis in this country on the every four-year election of a president; spend vast amounts of money, time, and resources on selecting "the right one". We debate their policy proposals (who am I kidding? We debate their personalities far more!), and what they say they are going to do for US--forgetting completely that if we don't elect legislators to pass those laws and budgets that NOTHING will get done.
We put a lot of power in the hands of one person--the President--which is, I believe, completely misplaced when it comes to the daily lives of you and me. Until our 45th president completely bungled handling the pandemic, I would venture to say that no president had had much of an impact on my day-to-day life. But when I take time to look at the handling of the pandemic, I have to say that the presidential decisions didn't affect me as much as the decisions made by my county health officer, mayor, city council, school board, and governor did. While the president used a press conference to discuss the merits of injection of bleach into our bodies, the Indiana governor issued a mask "recommendation", and our mayor then mandated masks for people in West Lafayette; the latter two officials slowing the spread, and impacting directly the health of their citizens. [Thank you, Mayor Dennis]
The decisions elected officials made where I live are very different from the decisions made where family and friends live, and I've had some sleepless nights worrying about them. We are certainly not the united states of America, are we? Nor should we be, but that makes being an informed and responsible voter all the more important, doesn't it?
Most of us living in the United States have the privilege and the luxury to be blissfully ignorant about where our electricity comes from, how clean our water is, and whether we can stay cool in the summer. Sadly, citizens of Texas are suffering this week--from the effects of an epic winter storm and the total failure of the "Texas Interconnect" power grid, overseen by ERCOT (stands for Electric Reliability Council of Texas). In the first few hours of the power grid failure, Texas officials tried desperately to blame "Green energy" for the situation, but it quickly became clear that ERCOT bore full responsibility. But oversight of ERCOT and the Texas utility system is done by...no, not the president of the United States...the Texas governor and the Texas legislature. The elected officials of citizens of Texas.
People are dying. People are suffering needlessly. It's a terrible, horrible situation that was mishandled by the governor: "Beyond arguing over energy sources, Mr.
Abbott, who succeeded Mr. Perry in 2014, was already on the defensive
over complaints by Democrats and even some Republicans over the insular
way in which he names people to state boards and commissions. Legislation
aiming to put an end to the governor’s so-called pay-for-play
nominations for donors has failed to advance in the
Republican-controlled chambers.Mr.
Abbott appointed all three of the commissioners on the Public Utility
Commission of Texas that oversees ERCOT. As for ERCOT itself, the leader
of its board does not live in Texas but in Michigan; its vice-chair is a
professor who lives in California and teaches at a university in
Germany." Responsible adults voted these state and local officials into office with a pull or click or touch of the "R" right next to their name without another thought about the actual person being that party affiliation. And, to be clear--I am not picking on just Texas voters. We all do it. We vote for party far too often, because it's tradition, and it's far, far easier to do that than read policy positions or attend candidate debates. We call ourselves "informed voters" but seem to skip over the elections of officials that have a direct
impact on our own, day-to-day lives. I've seen local school board races
decided by a flip of a coin (no evaluation of the qualification for
office there!), and I myself won a school board race by just 43 votes.
The local school board is going to decide on the educational fate of
every child in your district, but people often skip over these races
when filling out a ballot! We have to be more mindful of decisions we make, the people we select to make decisions for us--those decisions have real consequences. In Texas this week, people died.
[I'm going to save for another blog what happens (Flint, Michigan) when the state appoints your local officials].
If you're not from Indiana, you can stop reading here. Or, continue--it may be enlightening.
Now I want to talk about the most local of the "all politics is local". Let's talk about Township Government.
If you're not from Indiana, nor from the 19 other states that have Township Government, you might be asking what it is? I have to admit I had to do some research, and I've lived here over 30 years! According to Ballotpedia:
"The township government is a local unit of government, originally rural in application. They are geographic and political subdivisions of a United States county. The township is identified by a name, such as Washington Township. The responsibilities and the form of the township government is specified by the state legislature. The most common form of township government has an elected board of trustees or supervisors. Some additional offices, such as Clerk or Constable, may also be elected....Indiana is the only state where every portion of the state is part of a township government, regardless of other municipalities."
I also found this fantastic article by Purdue Professor Larry DeBoer, which explains what a township is responsible for, and how our townships are funded. Bottom line is, our townships are responsible for relief to poor people, and fire protection and emergency services for those not served by entities. This is almost as local as politics get. We cannot ignore, skip over, or remain ignorant about township governance, and those we elect. The electoral decisions we make at our local Tippecanoe County ballot boxes have real-life consequences for our neighbors. We choose badly, in haste, or ignorantly, and people could die. Really.
That's why the situation playing out, right here in Wabash Township, is so disturbing to me. I need to apologize, because I failed my friends and neighbors--did you? In the elections of 2018 (mid-term, no biggie--right?), I selected a person running for Wabash Township Trustee based on one thing and one thing only: the "D" next to her name. I did not seek out her policy positions, I did not attend any candidate forum, I did not even bother to ask why she was running. I trusted that, because she was a "D", she would have all the qualifications, and all of her political (and moral) beliefs would align perfectly with mine. I was wrong. I failed to be a responsible citizen. And now, I'm worried.
You can read the succinct Wikipedia version of events here.
I've read all I can about this situation, I've listened to others, I've thought about it. And, I want this official to resign. I feel her actions, her decisions, are not in the best interests of the citizens of Wabash Township. I believe that, if she stays in office (and here's the thing--NOBODY can force her to leave), people have, and will continue to, suffer. I feel this so strongly, I've written this whole blog. And now, I am going to do the only thing I have left, as a citizen, to do. I am going to send her an email, and ask her to resign.
Today.
If you live in Wabash Township, I beg you to think about it, and I hope, hope, hope you write too.
Because all politics is local, our local representatives need to be reminded THEY serve US. This one seems to have forgotten that.
