Local Politics: How Do They Differ?

While we tend to focus on politics on the national level, we must keep in mind the importance of local politics. In many cases, it is politics at this level that affect us the most. Many important decisions regarding a community’s school system, budget, public services, etc. are made at this level and are the best opportunity for citizens to participate in our country’s democratic system. Unfortunately, in my opinion, we tend to forget about these opportunities and miss out not only on an exciting and wonderfully American act, but on the chance to speak out and have an impact in politics. Having participated in several local elections, overrides regarding school budgets in particular, I am somewhat familiar with the local politics scene and wanted to bring it to you.

To emphasize the importance of local politics I chose to present to you a recent Board of Selectmen’s Meeting in my hometown of Milton Massachusetts where one blogger illustrates how discussion quickly turned from public policy to personal attacks. To understand the context of the meeting you might want to educate yourself on what the No Place for Hate Committee does. In short, its goal is to create a safe and accepting community that fights any form of hate whether it be racism, anti-Semitism, or any other type of hate. You can view the video of this meeting here (be sure to watch all 3 videos in order).

This incident raises the question of how resilient politicians must be and how important their receptiveness to criticism from their constituents is in their role as elected officials. Does this incident show that local politicians aren’t as tough as those at the State and National level? Or is this an unfortunate occurrence that should only concern Milton residents? How much do you know about what is going on in your town’s political arena?