Down The Sewer Pipe – Politically Speaking

In the late 1960’s the Oregon state legislature passed some laws that created something called Councils of Government.  This was an effort to get several counties and cities or towns to develop intergovernmental relationships that allocated resources and population.  Easing the pain of population growth while keeping a livable clement was said to be the goal.  Proponents thought this was a real good way to do things, get everyone on the same page, read their page, and have a utopia of sorts.  Detractors saw this as an additional layer of government that removed personal liberty and infringed on the freedom of society as a whole.

All in all thirty-five years on and the detractor have been proven right in more ways that one.  Councils of Government have removed from towns and cities the ability of developing their own population projections, determining traffic flow, deciding on a mixture of public and transportation options.  They have also diverted funds for transportation, law enforcement, solid waste and other services that cities, towns, and county governments used to have available to them to meet the needs of their respective citizens.

Town’s, cities and counties are no longer able to set density, services, or taxes in and of themselves but have become subservient tot a layer of government that stands between them and the State.  This has consequences in that roads are not sized correctly to the new density; services are either stretched or hopelessly out paced by demand that there is no hope of helping the population that needs it.

Political decisions that are made at the level of the Council of Governments are not always clear and in turn a rubber stamp of approval is expected of counties and cities.  While the Council of government do have elected officials but they to be not in reach of the vast majority of the people that they govern.  A disconnect of sorts, created by the idea that elected people are smarter than everyone else, leads to poor governance and political decisions which later on turn out to be just plane wrong.

When participating in a Council of Government always s remember to report back to the people who elected you with the thoughts and decisions that are being made, contemplated, or mentioned – even if just in passing.  For it is important that your constituency know what the potential hurt an pain is coming from and weather or not you are going to protect them.

Protection from the poor governance, theft of funds, and arrogance that the Council of Governments tend to breed is impossible because of the protection that the state government legislatively provides.  Creating another layer of government with all sorts of laws and regulations that your city or county cannot defend against regulating your own efforts for good governance and open government useless.  All the while sucking off the needed funds and fees needed by local governments to meet the needs of their populations while keeping those very same fees and taxes reasonable for the vast number of people below or at the median wage for your are. 

Since Councils of Government are created by the state it stands to reason, from a normal person point of view, that the Council of Government is not really a government at all but a body of people elected to make their lives harder than they need to be.

Sherman