All politics are local
Published in the Boulder Daily Camera 9/9/08
The belief that American politics are best served when political parties compete began with Thomas Jefferson who chose to stay out of John Adams' cabinet in favor of nurturing a "loyal opposition." As we have seen in America and the world, nothing good comes from one-party rule.In the last decade, Boulder City and County have become one-party communities. Not a single Republican can be found on the Boulder City Council, county Board of Commissioners, or in any of the state legislative or U.S. House of Representative seats that cover a large swath of Boulder County.
Boulder City and County have not always been run by one party. In fact, this is a recent development. Until 14 years ago, we had decades of multi-party representation on the County Commissioners and until six years ago there was an elected Republican in County Government. It is fair to say that what made Boulder the place we all love was not the kind of single-party government we have now, but the multi-party community of diverse political debate that we have had in the past.
While Boulder is and will always be a wonderful town to live in, there are signs that our recent one-party rule has been hurting the Boulder we all love so dearly. Some examples include:
Maintaining sound management for City Government
Perhaps the most important job of the City Council is to ensure that the management team for the city is filled with qualified people. Yet, as reported in the Camera on April 20, the City Council has been remiss for years on keeping key jobs filled. Our elected officials have made the hiring process cumbersome, uninviting to candidates and, in the end, they have not done their job.
Local government finances
Since 2000, the City of Boulder has experienced a drop of over 9 percent in inflation-adjusted sales tax revenue -- the city's primary source of income. A Blue Ribbon Commission convened in 2006 to address city finance issues identified a dramatic growing shortfall between city income and expenses off into the indefinite future. Yet, after almost a decade of deteriorating city finances, addressing this growing fiscal crisis has yet to be substantively addressed, much less solved. .
The flight of families with school age children
The debate over closing specific schools in Boulder misses a key question we should ask -- are families with school age children moving out of Boulder more now than they did 10 years ago? In a review of Boulder Valley School District data, I found that, between 1999 and 2007, the number of elementary and middle school students at City of Boulder public schools declined by 10 percent while the attendance at schools outside of the City of Boulder increased by 10 percent. This certainly raises the question of whether families with children of school age are, now more than ever, leaving town or not choosing Boulder as a place to live. Local elected officials should be asking questions like whether our land use, city planning, and affordable housing policies are working as we would like or whether they should be adjusted to better address the needs of families with children. Our government does not even acknowledge that there may be a problem.
Our national image
"Keeping Boulder weird" is, at least in my opinion, a good goal for Boulder. We want to, and can, be unique. However, in the past decade, Boulder has often crossed the line from being seen as interesting to becoming the subject of national ridicule. From city government silliness (like declaring pet owners as "guardians" and the pink poodle caper) to the County District Attorney's incompetence (such as the recent Jon Benet fracas and the District Attorney's unprofessional comments that started and prolonged the CU Athletic scandal), Boulder's image has been hurt all too often by the behavior of our elected officials.
There are a lot of reasons that we should all be hearing alarm bells. In a place that values the concept of "sustainable," our local government is not sustainable if the above trends continue.
To be sure, one-party rule is, in part, the result of a local Republican party whose positions have not always been responsive to Boulder City and County's interests or well communicated. Many of us working with the local party are trying hard to change that. However, the community-at-large also bears responsibility for where we are today. I know from my discussions with many people and reading of local politics that our concerns might often be best addressed by Republican ideas. Yet, local Republican candidates are given the daunting task of trying to get a fair hearing from local voters who won't listen simply because of their party affiliation.
While I speak of the Republican Party as the alternative party, the City and County of Boulder would be well served by any alternative parties that could seriously challenge local political thinking.
Those of us who are involved in other political parties must listen to the electorate, understand their problems, develop sound solutions, and communicate these ideas. Those of you pulling the levers (or hanging the chads or punching the keys -- however it works this time around) need to open up your eyes and minds to alternatives to the current local political status quo. If you think we are not being well served by local government, then you need to engage and support ideas from candidates who are not Democrats. We must appreciate and get back to the multi-party system of government that made Boulder the place it is, and that will keep Boulder the special place that it always can be.
Ron Laughery is a 27-year resident of Boulder County and is active in the Boulder County Republican Party
The belief that American politics are best served when political parties compete began with Thomas Jefferson who chose to stay out of John Adams' cabinet in favor of nurturing a "loyal opposition." As we have seen in America and the world, nothing good comes from one-party rule.In the last decade, Boulder City and County have become one-party communities. Not a single Republican can be found on the Boulder City Council, county Board of Commissioners, or in any of the state legislative or U.S. House of Representative seats that cover a large swath of Boulder County.
Boulder City and County have not always been run by one party. In fact, this is a recent development. Until 14 years ago, we had decades of multi-party representation on the County Commissioners and until six years ago there was an elected Republican in County Government. It is fair to say that what made Boulder the place we all love was not the kind of single-party government we have now, but the multi-party community of diverse political debate that we have had in the past.
While Boulder is and will always be a wonderful town to live in, there are signs that our recent one-party rule has been hurting the Boulder we all love so dearly. Some examples include:
Maintaining sound management for City Government
Perhaps the most important job of the City Council is to ensure that the management team for the city is filled with qualified people. Yet, as reported in the Camera on April 20, the City Council has been remiss for years on keeping key jobs filled. Our elected officials have made the hiring process cumbersome, uninviting to candidates and, in the end, they have not done their job.
Local government finances
Since 2000, the City of Boulder has experienced a drop of over 9 percent in inflation-adjusted sales tax revenue -- the city's primary source of income. A Blue Ribbon Commission convened in 2006 to address city finance issues identified a dramatic growing shortfall between city income and expenses off into the indefinite future. Yet, after almost a decade of deteriorating city finances, addressing this growing fiscal crisis has yet to be substantively addressed, much less solved. .
The flight of families with school age children
The debate over closing specific schools in Boulder misses a key question we should ask -- are families with school age children moving out of Boulder more now than they did 10 years ago? In a review of Boulder Valley School District data, I found that, between 1999 and 2007, the number of elementary and middle school students at City of Boulder public schools declined by 10 percent while the attendance at schools outside of the City of Boulder increased by 10 percent. This certainly raises the question of whether families with children of school age are, now more than ever, leaving town or not choosing Boulder as a place to live. Local elected officials should be asking questions like whether our land use, city planning, and affordable housing policies are working as we would like or whether they should be adjusted to better address the needs of families with children. Our government does not even acknowledge that there may be a problem.
Our national image
"Keeping Boulder weird" is, at least in my opinion, a good goal for Boulder. We want to, and can, be unique. However, in the past decade, Boulder has often crossed the line from being seen as interesting to becoming the subject of national ridicule. From city government silliness (like declaring pet owners as "guardians" and the pink poodle caper) to the County District Attorney's incompetence (such as the recent Jon Benet fracas and the District Attorney's unprofessional comments that started and prolonged the CU Athletic scandal), Boulder's image has been hurt all too often by the behavior of our elected officials.
There are a lot of reasons that we should all be hearing alarm bells. In a place that values the concept of "sustainable," our local government is not sustainable if the above trends continue.
To be sure, one-party rule is, in part, the result of a local Republican party whose positions have not always been responsive to Boulder City and County's interests or well communicated. Many of us working with the local party are trying hard to change that. However, the community-at-large also bears responsibility for where we are today. I know from my discussions with many people and reading of local politics that our concerns might often be best addressed by Republican ideas. Yet, local Republican candidates are given the daunting task of trying to get a fair hearing from local voters who won't listen simply because of their party affiliation.
While I speak of the Republican Party as the alternative party, the City and County of Boulder would be well served by any alternative parties that could seriously challenge local political thinking.
Those of us who are involved in other political parties must listen to the electorate, understand their problems, develop sound solutions, and communicate these ideas. Those of you pulling the levers (or hanging the chads or punching the keys -- however it works this time around) need to open up your eyes and minds to alternatives to the current local political status quo. If you think we are not being well served by local government, then you need to engage and support ideas from candidates who are not Democrats. We must appreciate and get back to the multi-party system of government that made Boulder the place it is, and that will keep Boulder the special place that it always can be.
Ron Laughery is a 27-year resident of Boulder County and is active in the Boulder County Republican Party
