Local government power illusory
Editorial:
SUNNYSIDE---Try going to a Sunnyside City Council or Sunnyside School Board meeting.
Bring up an idea about something you would like to see happen in your school or city.
Often the first thing city or school officials must say to you are, "Oh, no. The state or federal government would never allow THAT."
Or try this. Say that the state or feds are pushing a program you believe would be detrimental to the City of Sunnyside or Sunnyside students. You speak out against the city or school district incorporating the state or federal program into their daily operations.
Often the first thing city or school officials say to you are "We've GOT to do this. The state says we have to. Or the feds say we must"
Local citizens have increasingly been getting 'We MUST, or we MUSTN'T " answers for the past 85 years, ever since the central government usurped overwhelming power over local citizens (income tax/IRS).
Simultaneously, most people have stopped coming to city council and school board meetings. If bureaucrats 250 miles or 3,000 miles away are going to dictate even the smallest Sunnyside City and Sunnyside School District policies, why bother?
So. What can we do about it?
First, we can develop a working knowledge of the Washington State and U.S. Constitutions. And we can demand that our schools stress this detailed knowledge in our students.
Second, we can elect only those local politicians to office who are willing to STAND UP to the state, or stand up to the feds, when their constiuents believe a state or federal policy is (a) stopping local progress or (b) pushing programs local citizens don't want.
Since local citizens don't always agree with one another, at least our city council and school boards will gain become true forums for real debate on issues that affect us all.
Third, we can organize our friends and acquaintances to make certain the philosophy of STAND UP begins to happen on a local level, starting in Sunnyside and working outward to every city in America.