New Blog Takes Hard Look at Local Government Reform
I want to tell you folks about a new blog I’m involved with. It’s called Stop Governing Like This. It takes a hard look at our system of local government and how it’s managed.
It’s also a bipartisan effort in which I am teaming up with the infamous Jennifer Wagner. Can two people like Jennifer and I actually get along and agree on issues? You’d be surprised. One of the things we have in common is that we want to see local government run more smoothly. We’re sick and tired of all the duplicative layers that cost taxpayers money. And Jennifer and I are part of a coalition of people (Republican and Democrat) who are seeking to push more local more government reform.
So what are we going to do on our blog? Pretty simple actually. We want to expose all the waste, fraud and abuse that occurs at the local level that cost you and me our hard earned tax dollars. You know you’ve heard about it and you know you’ve seen it.
If you’re interested in seeing how your taxes are being spent, head on over to Stop Governing Like This. You will be astonished at what you read.
And don’t worry. Just because I’m teaming up with Jennifer Wagner doesn’t mean I’m going to take it easy on Democrats on here or on the new site.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Taking sips of the koolaid???
August 18th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Hardly. But it is interesting what topics political rivals can agree on. I imagine this will be the only thing we can agree on.
It’s also a good idea to make friends with people on the opposite side of the aisle on occasion.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Josh, I think you’ll find statewide political hacks on both sides will agree. The disagreement will be at the local level. Most of the Democratic mayors and county councils are being told by Democrats in the house that they’ll change SEA 1001 to make it easier on them.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Here’s an interesting question, is local government structure the problem or local government officeholders? I have to say that I’m not always impressed with the quality of local candidates fielded by either side. Represenative government is messy, with numerous checks and balances, but sometimes its more the people running the system than the system that is to blame.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to some local government reform (like a single county executive and broader legislative powers invested in the county council) but I am opposed to streamlining things to the point that critical points of accountability are lost.