I submitted this letter to the TR Commercial today.
There is a great amount of responsibility involved in electing the people who represent you in government. In Three Rivers we have a commission of seven people who are elected to make important decisions for us. By default those seven people have a tremendous amount of power over our daily lives. It is they who write, review and amend the ordinances that are on the books that govern our city. The power held by the commission does have significant limits. To name a few, the U.S. Constitution, the MI State Constitution and the City Charter. However, in my opinion the most important and under used limit on their power is the power the people hold.
Thomas Jefferson said, "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." As the governed we have the responsibility to not only elect people to represent our interests but to remind them from time to time that we are going to hold them accountable for the representation. Many, if not all, politicians view the silence of the people as consent.
I like to talk politics and do so whenever I get the chance. One of the things I continuously hear from local people is that the city commission is nothing more then a rubber stamp committee. While I don’t agree with that assessment I do appreciate that many decisions made by the commission are made without much debate. However by not participating in the process, it is we the people who are the rubber stampers. Our consent was given by our non-participation.
The October 21st commission meeting proved one thing to me. When people take the initiative and show up for the meetings and make their voices heard the commission does listen and their decision-making can be influenced by it. It was a great demonstration of how the representative system we live under is supposed to work. I was never more proud of the citizens of Three Rivers as I was during that meeting.
On November 4th you have another chance to be heard. You have the opportunity to vote in the general election. There are four seats up for reelection but only one is being contested, the At-Large seat that Ken Cochran and I are running for. I want to encourage everyone in the community to make yourselves heard on the 4th. Go out and vote for the candidates that most closely represent your views and after the election be sure to remind them it is you they represent. In our representative form of government citizen involvement is not only important it is essential to the democratic ideals this country was founded on.
The Buck Stops Here.
Citizens, your silence is your consent.
There is a great amount of responsibility involved in electing the people who represent you in government. In Three Rivers we have a commission of seven people who are elected to make important decisions for us. By default those seven people have a tremendous amount of power over our daily lives. It is they who write, review and amend the ordinances that are on the books that govern our city. The power held by the commission does have significant limits. To name a few, the U.S. Constitution, the MI State Constitution and the City Charter. However, in my opinion the most important and under used limit on their power is the power the people hold.
Thomas Jefferson said, "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." As the governed we have the responsibility to not only elect people to represent our interests but to remind them from time to time that we are going to hold them accountable for the representation. Many, if not all, politicians view the silence of the people as consent.
I like to talk politics and do so whenever I get the chance. One of the things I continuously hear from local people is that the city commission is nothing more then a rubber stamp committee. While I don’t agree with that assessment I do appreciate that many decisions made by the commission are made without much debate. However by not participating in the process, it is we the people who are the rubber stampers. Our consent was given by our non-participation.
The October 21st commission meeting proved one thing to me. When people take the initiative and show up for the meetings and make their voices heard the commission does listen and their decision-making can be influenced by it. It was a great demonstration of how the representative system we live under is supposed to work. I was never more proud of the citizens of Three Rivers as I was during that meeting.
On November 4th you have another chance to be heard. You have the opportunity to vote in the general election. There are four seats up for reelection but only one is being contested, the At-Large seat that Ken Cochran and I are running for. I want to encourage everyone in the community to make yourselves heard on the 4th. Go out and vote for the candidates that most closely represent your views and after the election be sure to remind them it is you they represent. In our representative form of government citizen involvement is not only important it is essential to the democratic ideals this country was founded on.
The Buck Stops Here.