The Wall Street Journal has turned its attention to the "Neighborhood Government" movement that I mentioned back in November of last year. In a news article that appeared in its Friday, December 27, 2013 edition, The Journal reported that the Neighborhood Legislature Reform Act has now been cleared by the Secretary of State for signature gathering. The initiative is the brainchild of John H. Cox, pictured. He is an attorney, a real estate executive, and a former Presidential candidate (Republican). To summarize the initiative Cox proposes: "instead of 120 legislators, voters would elect nearly 12,000."
According to the Journal's reporting, California Common Cause has declined to take a position on this proposed ballot measure. Assembly Speaker John Perez and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg have also declined to comment.
Not afraid to speak out on this "more government" plan was Corey Cook, a political science professor at the University of San Francisco. He said the plan would "make governing a nightmare," and that it was "a recipe for nothing ever getting passed ever."
My own view: we don't need "more government" nearly as much as we need more government involvement.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304773104579270652871349262?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLE_Video_Top
I agree we don't need "more government."
ReplyDeleteHowever, we do need more participation in government. Government "by the people" ceases to exist when "the people" no longer have an avenue for meaningful involvement in the course of local, state and national decision-making.
I have long proposed a government grounded in Neighborhood Assemblies, where neighbors meet to discuss local issues and problems, craft solutions and present them to representative bodies via a recognized local decision-making body.
Government today, is top down, with citizens relegated to the role of observers and rubber stampers of decisions made outside of their input and control. Neighborhood Assemblies are the starting point for bottom up governance, where problems and solutions are identified and sent upward through the government bureaucracy.
In Neighborhood Assemblies, citizens have a direct role in the day to day course of government.
I absolutely agree that we need more participation in government!
ReplyDelete