Most Americans have
a weak understanding of how our "Self-Governance" (the envy of the
Free World) is operating
Understandably
distracted by the overwhelming availability of public information and
responding to fulfilling the "learned" needs of everyday life, most
citizens have been forced to delegate their civic responsibilities to a much
lower priority. This has opened a void that paid government personnel have
found that they must fill. Although unintended, this evolution of governance
has led to an extreme imbalance in our governing process. The lack of citizen
participation has opened fertile ground for manipulation by a wide ranging
variety of special interest groups ranging from Non-Governmental Organizations
to Corporate Lobbyists.
The present
condition of our "treasured" form of self-governance is in great
jeopardy and not easy to mend. Recent Polls indicate that the current sentiment
of the populace overwhelmingly favors replacing all members of our Federal
Congress with new "true" representatives of the people. Yet, we are
experiencing governmental dysfunction on local levels as well; most likely due
to an accumulation of local citizen apathy.
The fundamental
premises of our governance in the Commonwealth of Virginia is very sound.
However, as a "Dillon Rule" state, we must, as citizens, keep tabs on
the actions of our state representatives as well as our local elected and
appointed representatives.
Recently, Roanoke
County established a Stormwater
Advisory Committee. Of the twenty-one members appointed to the Committee, only
five were directly appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The remaining sixteen
were identified by the Roanoke County Administrative Staff. The significance in
this example of the exercise of governmental power lies in the fact that
ultimately, the determination of additional revenues for the County to
"administer" future stormwater management programs will lie with the
recommendation of special interest groups.
Certainly the decisions made in Roanoke
County have an impact on our neighboring localities, but this does not mean
that we should grant our neighbors the opportunity to make our decisions for
us. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has happened in recent years regarding
a variety of issues. It has happened primarily as a result of the lack of an
effective governmental process that prioritizes the views of its constituency
above all others.
Certainly we should
welcome the input from all with outside interests, but we should be sure to
strongly represent the viewpoints of those persons who actually financially
support the governance of our community.
Due to a similar
dysfunctional government on the national level, we are now quickly approaching
a financial catastrophe of epic proportions. This should be understood as an
alarm call to all citizens on a local level to respond by correcting the
dysfunctions in local government.
Recently, Windsor
Hills magisterial district Supervisor Ed Elswick has been attempting to
persuade his fellow Board Members to adopt a resolution that would lead to a
re-examination of our current procedures as related to land use planning. He
titled his proposal a Property Rights Resolution. Within it procedural changes
are proposed that are quite different from those that other Board members and
Administrative staff have accepted as "normal" through decades of
use. Business leaders as well as planning professionals have also become
comfortable with the current processes. So, once again, a plea for a return to
civility is lost on deaf ears.
Yet, repeatedly, in
legal disputes all over our nation we find evidence that those property owners
most affected by zoning changes and variances, have the weakest position with
their local government. In a recent Forbes magazine article about the recent
Supreme Court decision Koontz v. St.
John’s Water Management District:
Many
things are broken with respect to rights in real property... ineffective or outdated land
use and zoning plans, the propensity for elected officials to make
ill-conceived changes to those plans, and the fact that so many interests and
agencies can come forward to involve themselves in the permitting process, make
the process unnecessarily hazardous and cumbersome. Applicants denied
entitlements are forced to fight as individuals against agencies with unlimited
resources. Those with the ability to work the system often receive approvals
inappropriately.
-Robert
Bridges
On Tuesday, November 5, citizens in the Windsor Hills Magisterial
District will have the opportunity to re-elect Ed Elswick, the most
conscientious Supervisor we have had since Lee Eddy.
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