Getting Local: Government Oversight.
Larimer County Colorado is one of 3,141. Every one needs at
least one watchdog.
A few weeks ago, Moe gave us a challenge to “Get Local” by
writing about our home U.S. House district. Many of us
have done that. Influencing our entire district can be
difficult for those of us that live in districts that cover large
land areas. CO-4, for example, covers most of Eastern Colorado and
the farther northern part of the Colorado Front Range. This
includes all or part of 16 counties.
Rather than sit around and worry about what I cannot do, I’ve
decided to find out what I can do. This starts with finding
out what’s happening with the government in my County and my City.
This doesn’t make the other 15 counties less important, it’s just
being realistic about what I can do on a day-to-day
basis.
I recently wrong a blog
here about open records access which can be used to bring to
light wasteful government spending. While this is a big part of
government oversight, it’s only a part of it.
How many of you know your County Supervisors
and City
Council members? I must admit I didn’t even know their names
until six months ago when I found out that my neighborhood is
represented by the Mayor Pro Tem who happens to be very
anti-growth. This has caused businesses to expand in the
neighboring towns of Timnath and Windsor.
The Fort Collins City Council meets every Tuesday night (with
exceptions) with the 2nd and 4th of each month closed to the public
for work sessions. Cable Television broadcasts are on channel 14
and available online. County Supervisor meetings are also available
online and on
channel 14
in Fort Collins, and channel
16 in Loveland.
Fort Collins has several Boards and
Advisories that advise the City Council. These meetings are
open to the public for observation and input. Any citizen of the
city can apply to be a member of them.
The business environment of each city is different. By far, the
largest employer in Fort Collins is Colorado State University.
Over 60% of those that employ over 1,000 are government
organizations, each one needing oversight by the public.
There’s no question there’s a lot to do, but that also means if
we put in the effort there’s no end to the influence we can have.
Not everyone is interested in writing, but that doesn’t mean your
friends can’t be enlisted to attend some of these meetings and
report back to you what’s going on. Once a issue is discovered,
then you can use Open Records laws to uncover more about what’s
been happening.
Another reason for getting local is getting the inside track on
future National government leaders. Most of you will remember the
inside information we received here on RedState about
Vice-Presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin because constant
reader Achance knew her from the time she was mayor of
Wasilla.
Most of our national legislators were once some type of local
government official, whether it be mayor, City Council or County
Supervisor, or State legislator. Getting to know them while they’re
still at the local level is not only more likely, but will help to
give insight to others when they move up to the next level. You’re
also more likely to have influence over those that you already know
and who already know you.
There’s much work to be done over the next few years to return
conservative principles to the Republican Party. This starts by
holding our elected officials accountable. To do that, we need to
get to know them and get involved, whether that be by participation
or simply getting the information out to the public.
There’s a funny thing about human nature that’s quite
predictable. When people know that you’re watching, they watch
themselves much more closely. Our job is to make sure that they
know we’re watching.
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