Politics are ugly right now. A presidential election where many people will be voting for the least worse candidate. A Congress that seems to revel in its gridlock. An intense partisanship that discourages reaching across the aisle. An anger that politicians inflame to win the next election without solving the reason voters became angry in the first place.
Even for someone who enjoys politics and seeing how governments work, it appears like a discouraging time. Our national politics appear so broken, with cable news and social media seeming to want to keep it that way. However, not all is lost. While many of us believe most our country’s politicians don’t listen to us, there are some public officials who do.
The Thomas Jefferson saying that the government closest to the people governs the best is true for many reasons. Local governments, cities and counties, have the most impact on the day-to-day lives of most people. These governments run school systems, build and pave local roads and streets and determine how communities grow responsibly. The federal government in Washington determines national policies and laws, but the government in your hometown is the most responsive, accessible, accountable and consequential in our system of government.
With your municipal electric utility being part of your local government, it’s also governed right where you live. Instead of a large private company that would have to answer to shareholders all over the country or globe, your electric utility answers to you. Your community elects a city council, county commissioners and city/county mayor, and they make sure that your electric utility is run well. This means your municipal electric utility is as accessible and accountable as the rest of your local government.
As our national politics become frustrating and even infuriating, it’s tempting. To believe it can’t be fixed. To think it’s broken. To turn it all off. To tune out. To stop caring. But then we lose, first our voice, and then our opportunity to shape our nation, state and community. Our system of government is shaped by those who show up and participate, so those who tune out can be left out.
There are too many important decisions that are made, particularly in our own communities, for us to simply give up and pull away from it all. Even though it may be hard to stomach sometimes, the decisions our governments make are too important with too much at stake. For our politics and government to be better, it has to be people like you and me to do it.