It's time to acknowledge that all politics are local

In my last blog post, I wrote about my frustration with a local unit of government that seemed to value more highly the addition of another oil change business over helping a free medical clinic and a successful restaurant expand. You can read it here.

I remain frustrated, especially this election year, when everyone is so involved in politics at the national level. There is a big push through the National Association of Realtors for members to donate funds to be used to advocate for pro-growth and housing issues. Closer to home, the Michigan Association of Realtors is looking for money to help it promote issues it feels would benefit the community.

Donations to campaigns and political action committees are not the way I prefer to spend money, but it’s a reality of the world we live in.

I wish our local Board of Realtors or the Livingston County Bar Association, or some such organization would lead a movement to use that same philosophy locally, to get involved in local elections.

At a recent township board meeting I attended, a representative of the Ann Arbor SPARK organization came looking for support. SPARK works to advance the economic health of the Ann Arbor region, which includes Livingston County. It seems there is a company looking to locate in the region that wouldn’t create any jobs inside the township’s borders; however, it would create jobs within an easy commuting distance for the township’s residents.

With Livingston County being such a commuting — or “bedroom” — community, it seems like the township would’ve been all too happy to contribute some funding to support SPARK and this particular project.

Instead, the reaction of the township board was just the opposite.
One board member said he moved to the township to get away from people and he likes things just the way they are. A second said that there are so few commercial properties located in the township that SPARK wouldn’t be a direct benefit to the community. The third had the gall to say that he had a really good, high-paying job in Ann Arbor to which he commutes, that he liked things just the way they are and didn’t want any growth.

So, jobs for a township’s residents didn’t seem to be much of a priority for this particular township’s board. The Ann Arbor SPARK representative left empty handed.

It was a short-sighted move on the part of these locals who seemed to be basing their decision on what they wanted personally, not what would benefit the community they were elected to represent.

So my question is: Who holds our local politicians accountable?
It seems like there is a small minority that runs everything, a minority that pays no attention to what the silent majority wants and needs. This is wrong, and I think it’s time we rethink what we’re doing.

If there were such a thing as a local, Livingston County-centered political action committee, it could help us get behind the things that would benefit us most, things like more jobs that would contribute to the local residents and the regional economy.

I’m not saying that state and national issues aren’t important, because they are, but why not take the same political approach on the local level, where we all live and where decisions affect us the most.

Michigan is among the states having the most local units of government, with 2,893 in all. Here in Livingston County, taxpayers are supporting 16 townships, two cities, two villages, six school districts and one county government, in addition to a road commission, EMS service and various fire departments and a county planning department that has absolutely no power over how things get “planned” at the very local level.

It’s clear that we need to rethink about political influence and how things get run.

And maybe it’s time for some county organization to come forward to advocate for what’s best for us so very close to home.

What Livingston County needs is a local political action committee to help get pro-economic development people elected. We’re not going to thrive, let alone survive, if we don’t have good-paying jobs for our residents and a healthy tax base.