The following is an abridged excerpt from an email from the Managing Editor to the Mayor, in response to an email, asking how the City might better connect with and inform the citizenry.
I think that the City is doing a great job at presenting information and being willing to communicate. It’s the citizens that aren’t willing to put in the time or the effort to learn or be a part of the process, but why?
Its like a radio. The information is there, constantly flying by people. They just need to tune in and listen. Why don’t they tune in? Because it takes so much time and energy to do so. It’s WAY too much work to care about the City government, County government, State government, Federal government, and School districts. There is no way to know all that is happening and why its happening. It’s too much to go to all of the meetings and understand their structures, budgets, and issues.
But those people that do try, are rewarded with so little to show for it. They already have the water pipes, the sewer systems, and the garbage removal. They already have the streets, zones, and soccer leagues. They have the police to deal with criminals and the engineers to plan for the future.
In fact, they don’t even need to watch for crooked politicians, because the County and State do a pretty good job of auditing and limiting the City’s ability to over-tax the people or waste their money.
What does the populous have to gain from paying attention?
Unfortunately, the forfeiture of those responsibilities have left people without a sense belonging or ownership (like we’ve discussed). On top of that, when they have an issue with the City Administration, they don’t understand how to fix the problem, because they don’t understand how the problem began in the first place.
They don’t feel in charge of the City administration and to be honest, I think they’re right.
I was shocked to learn how little control the Citizens have when it comes to the direction of their City. Sure, it’s like a car that could go anywhere (like Benjamin Reeves says), but the roads have been built in such a way that the City’s car is on a freeway without any offramps. Who built these hypothetical roads? The State and Federal governments in the form of codes, laws, and the courts.
The people don’t feel that they have control over the City. They elect a Council, but the Council knows just as little as the people. But the City Manager knows everything that’s going on, including the laws.
There is a reason why Benjamin is afraid of appearing like he’s steering the votes of the City Council, because that’s how the people see it! And that’s the way the governments have designed it! Ben does his job very well, but the fact is, he knows what the City has to do as mandated by the County and State.
The Council has no choice but to go along with Ben, especially when the answer to “Why are we doing this?” is: “it’s the law.” (This is not to say that Benjamin is doing anything wrong. He’s doing his job very well according to my observation.)
So, you have the people who don’t care. (That leads to uncontested elections as we’ve seen in the past.) But on occasion, you have someone who tunes in because of an issue that they have with the city. So they pay attention, but they quickly find that they have no real ability to steer the City. So, they turn off and go back to being someone who doesn’t care.
It seems to be a cycle that I can’t see has an end to it. How do we help the people feel in control, when the larger government entities seem to be directing the City’s course?
This is an issue of massive proportions that has its roots in hundreds of years of planning by malicious agents, as well as non-malicious progress that has led to a situation of prosperity for billions. I argue that we’re too prosperous for our own good.
This might shock the people of Santaquin awake: What if all of the Administration and staff quit their jobs? That’s an exciting and interesting thought experiment.
But extreme shocks of reality aside, how can the City wake people up? (Assuming that once their awake that they will begin to think and care more about their community) I say give them back some of the responsibility and control.
How? I have no clue.
Again, it’s a deep issue that involves issues such as:
- Mortgages and property value exploding (forcing both parents to have to work to afford housing)
- Parents working outside the home and leaving children in daycares
- Mandatory attendance at daily public school (which takes the place of daycare at a certain age)
- Long commutes and fixed pay rates
- Inflation and rising prices (putting pressure on the families)
- The costs of property taxes (which schools contribute to) that cause you to never actually own your home
- Etc.
We’re fighting a cultural war.
I honestly don’t think that we’re going to be able to fix it without focusing on the family, its divine purpose, and personal reliance on God. (And I don’t know what kinds of laws restrict the City to partner with the churches in the area…)