July 4, 2017

Milton Citizens:

Happy Independence Day!  Today is a time to reflect upon and celebrate the political freedoms that we enjoy in the United States.

The Declaration of Independence eloquently states that the purpose of government is to “secure these rights” and that “government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.”  Most citizens are generally familiar with these notions, but might not fully appreciate how “consent of the governed” should be operationalized at a local level.  We mostly equate “consent of the governed” with the right to vote.  However, consent of the governed extends far beyond elections.  Consent of the governed means that citizens are at the center of government–that is, government is citizen-centric.  Government is the servant; citizens are the masters.  At a local level, this means that citizens are allowed to speak freely.  It is your right to stand up at Council Meetings and exercise your First Amendment right to “petition the government for redress of grievances.”  It is your right to freely assemble–that is, free to form citizens advocacy groups, watchdog groups, or other civic organizations.  It is your right to publish blogs about the city government and to post petitions that support or oppose government policy.

Consent of the governed also means that government is as open and transparent as possible.  Why is transparency an element of consent?  It is simple.  You cannot consent to decisions that you do not know about or that are hidden from you.  Only in exceptional cases (e.g., violation of privacy rights) should transparency be denied to citizens.

Consent of the governed also means that government is participatory.  That is, citizens are involved in the decision-making.  Citizens are afforded numerous and substantive opportunities to contribute to policy-making.  In Milton, our local government provides such opportunities with major initiatives, such as the drafting of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.  Especially important to participatory government is public comment at City Council meetings.  Recently, we have witnessed several instances where large numbers of passionate citizens steered our city government to the right course of action.

Some citizens might assume that local government would more naturally reflect the will of citizens because local government is smaller (and likely more responsive) and it is closer to the people.  However, several factors militate against this assumption.  First, local government is not subject to the same scrutiny as higher levels of government.  Quite simply, very few people are truly “watching” so it is easier for local politicians to get away with misbehaving.  Second, as a practical matter, the checks and balances that exist at higher levels of government, are often absent at the local level.  Third, enforcement actions against Council Members (for misconduct) are largely left to citizens.  Milton does not have an independent enforcement entity.  Malfeasance by City Council members is supposed to occur through ethics complaints.  However, if you have read earlier blog posts, you know that our current Ethics Ordinance is written to strongly discourage citizens from making ethics complaints.

So on this Independence Day, it is important to celebrate the freedoms that we all hold so dear (and sometimes take for granted).  However, it is also important to remain vigilant to the threats to those freedoms, especially at the local level.  Never forget that government exists to serve you.  We should settle for nothing less in Milton.

A Happy Fourth to you and your loved ones,

Tim Becker

The Milton Coalition