Re-Engaging Citizens
To meet the challenges ahead, local government needs more say

A mayor once observed that to be a local elected official went a little like this: “If I have an appointment with President Bush but Ms. Minnie on Elm Street calls to inquire as to why the couch on her curb has not been picked up, the choice would be clear. I’d cancel the appointment with the president and tend to Ms. Minnie’s couch. No question! All politics is, after all, local.”

This gives real meaning to the notion that cities represent the level of government closest to the people. But as important as that role is, stories about the little things that are done every day to improve lives just are not glamorous or earth-shattering enough to garner much attention. 

So in this day when fewer and fewer people are willing to step up to the often thankless life of local elected officialdom, how can we affect change? You begin where you can – one person, one neighborhood, one community at a time.

America’s 18,000 cities and towns are falling into disrepair at an alarming rate.  It is well documented that those in the middle belt of our country are losing population – particularly regarding the young. The coasts and so-called “beautiful” places are filling up rapidly without little thought in the way of planning. All of this can only lead to more congestion, high crime rates and isolated, lonely citizens.

In Kentucky and in other states, local governments are cannibalizing one another in a search for revenue to fund the essential services that citizens demand. 

In answer to my caution about cutting funding for the arts – arguing the need to maintain a strong arts community to attract and keep young and talented people who have their choice of where to live – one mayor quickly responded that the choice came down to the arts versus the deteriorating streets, and so far the streets were winning. 

In the meantime, citizens who cry out for no new taxes often accompany their complaint with disgust over the number of on-the-loose sex offenders or under-guarded courthouses – unaware, it would seem, that without funds to provide services and protection, those things we want often can’t be provided.

An essential question centers on finding the way to begin from the bottom up to develop our communities with proper assistance from federal and state levels – while still retaining the kind of local decision-making necessary for diverse communities and essential for promoting stronger civic engagement by everyday citizens.

A good start came in Kentucky’s 2005 General Assembly session when the governor and the state legislature came together to create such tools.

For example, work had been going on for years to develop brownfields legislation, and the tax credits included in the new tax plan will increase the ability to redevelop blighted areas that can be found in every city, large and small.

Likewise, historic tax credits have been successfully utilized throughout the country to redevelop older properties near the historic centers of towns. They have now arrived in Kentucky.  Here, too, putting the tools in the hands of locals is the answer. 

A one percent tax on hotel rooms will go to promoting regional tourism – with every penny going back to nine regions of the state.  Moreover, a bargain was struck between state and locals that guides how the money will be best spent, based on local needs. Partnership lies at the heart of each of these initiatives. 

A missing piece of the puzzle is a focused look on the changing world that includes local communities and regions that transcend even state borders.  Just look at a projection of population distribution for the year 2050 and it is clear that regions of population will grow irrespective of state and local boundaries and borders.

Each of those communities and regions will require flexibility and independence from state and federal governments to meet global economic challenges that are not going away. 

As local communities, we must be prepared to meet the challenges that will bring.

That’s going to take some work. It must begin now.

Sylvia L. Lovely is executive director and CEO of the Kentucky League of Cities.
editorial@lanereport.com

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