Have you ever taken time to read the Declaration of Independence? After all, that is the single document, whose signing we celebrate on the 4th of July. I have a feeling that the writing and signing of this document was a very solemn event, without bands or fireworks. Have we turned it into a celebration that has lost some of the significance found within the statements contained in the document itself.
I am sure that there are those who remember from their high school days some of the key phrases like:
“When in the Course of human events…” or “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
However, there are probably far fewer who remember some of the other important phrases held within that document. Specifically, those facts which are listed to give support to the claim that the King of Great Britain established a form of Tyranny over these States.
Now, take some of those facts and try looking at them from the perspective of the local, state, or federal government being in the place of the ‘King’ and I think you may find some similarities.(I’ll paraphrase a few of these here.)
- refusing to allow the enactment of laws for the public good.
- refusing to allow Governors to pass Laws that were of immediate need of the public until he could get around to giving his approval, then neglecting to attend to them.
- governing bodies were required to meet in areas far from their stored Public Records, striving to wear them down to where they would simply comply.
- dissolution of those agencies/groups daring to oppose the King.
- after that dissolution, to fail to replace the groups, thus eliminating effective responses to issues that arise.
I wonder if these are some of the guidelines that we should be evaluating our government officials on when it comes time to vote? For those seeking reelection, how have they handled the discussion of issues and/or voting on ordinances that affect the public good. (Remember that a zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, stormwater ordinance, and ALL other ordinances are the laws that your local officials are enacting.
When you look at ‘refusing to allow Governors to pass Laws’ comment, think about where elected officials go to get information on what they are allowed, by law to do. Do they take the word of someone telling them that the ‘minimum standards’ are what is required by law (which is true), or do they have the foresight to ask, are we allowed to do more than the minimum? Do our citizens deserve more than the minimum?
I think the “required to meet in areas far from their stored Public Records” shows a clear correlation with public meetings and public documents, but in this case concerns the degree of openness that the government is willing to provide people (and what the people are willing to accept). Are the elected officials making sure that the public has the information needed to understand their government and what is happening when decisions are being made?
The last two, I group together and see a relationship with the creation of citizen committees and their ‘failure to thrive’ due to neglect. When was the last time you heard an elected officials request that a citizen committee be formed. When was the last time you heard of such a committee presenting a report to the government agency? Any such reports should be public knowledge. In fact, it should be done at public meetings whenever possible. Citizens have a right to know what information the government is being given that may affect decision-making.
Fortunately, we are in a position where we do not need to breakaway from government in order to change the way government works. We have the ultimate power in the form of voting. It is unfortunate that so few people exercise that right and responsibility. However, I believe that is in the process of changing. More and more younger people are becoming involved and active. They seem to be taking their right to vote quite seriously. We may well see a major shift in the voting population based upon age groups.
There are a lot of people out there who say that these younger voters will lose interest, they will stop coming out to vote. If you are someone running for office, be careful of this stance. Information is much more accessible than ever before. It takes only a few minutes for someone to go to a site like Project Vote Smart and check out the voting records of your current elected officials. Of course, you can find other information there such as biographical information, positions on issues, ratings by interest groups, public statements, and perhaps most importantly, campaign finances.
For a quick preview of what to expect on the November 3, 2009 ballot, check out https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/PublicSite/Public/FT2/PublicElectionDetails.aspx?Ret=1
Yes….the referendum for changing the voting date in Christiansburg from May to November is on the ballot. Now, it is in the hands of the citizens of the Town of Christiansburg.
