United Non-Partisan Coalition

• Strengthening Communities
• Advocating for Ethical

 Rethinking the Role of Local Governance

 Premise:  A concern shared by people from all political parties is governmental waste and misuse of public funds.

Here’s a potentially new way of looking at this problem:  Maybe, we, the citizens, have asked the government to do too much. 

An analogy:  Schools have struggled with being given the responsibility for doing more and more for students.  This increased workload includes: providing rigorous instruction across a complex and broad range of topics, instilling a sense of responsibility, teaching proper behavior and ethics, preparing students for careers, implementing and teaching new technology, monitoring health and safety issues, and acting as counselor/advisor/mentor/ advocate for each, and every student.  This overwhelming workload sets up the likelihood that some of these roles will be done poorly and/or farmed out to less-qualified, less-vetted outside agencies.

Apply the same scenario to our local government.  The more responsibilities we assign our government, the greater the likelihood that some roles will fall by the wayside or be outsourced to agencies with less oversight and more opportunities for corruption.

Premise #2:  Cutting governmental programs, even ones where funds are being misused, has severe repercussions for real people.  Often, those who are impacted the most are our most vulnerable residents.

When politicians look to hold the line on spending by cutting “wasteful” programs, there is going to be a big backlash.  The question becomes, how do we cut spending without endangering real people who are facing real-life challenges?

Solution:  Let’s try approaching some of the issues as a community of concerned citizens who are ready to help shoulder more of the burden.  Community members need to work alongside local representatives to put in place innovative, fiscally responsible community support programs that fill in some of the existing gaps for vulnerable populations.  In other words, we need to take back the control and stop asking governmental agencies to do for us, what we are capable of doing for each other.  Many groups and organizations are already doing all that they can to serve others. Those of us looking to serve, can begin by volunteering with existing groups and organizations.   But, there is more to be done.  If more of us get involved by identifying underserved, at-risk groups, we can make a difference.

Here’s how this approach would work: 1) community members take the initiative to meet with local representatives to discuss community needs, 2) community members take on ONE issue and look to find a non-governmental approach- i.e. business/community/academic institutions/religious organizations working in partnerships, 3) a pilot program is planned and implemented, 4) data is collected to evaluate the pilot program, and 5) successful programs are shared with neighboring communities.

As successful programs begin to provide the necessary support for a portion of the community, the governmental monies needed for support of that specific population can be fazed out or redirected to other areas of need.

The Problem:  A community-based solution requires a lot of work from a team of committed community members.  Additionally, it is NOT a quick fix!

We need to stop over-simplifying problems.  We need to stop looking for others to do what WE should be doing for others in our own neighborhood.  Hopefully, everyone is witnessing the power of neighbor-helping-neighbor in the face of natural disasters that are rocking so many American communities.  Let’s use that lesson to show us that we can dig in and do our share of the work of building up our own communities.  Then, and only then, can we give our governmental leaders permission to do less.

Can you help us take one step towards making a difference?  (In our next post, we’ll explain how you can help us find solutions.)