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Demystifying Local Government

A collection of 7 issues

Understanding Why Politicians Take Foolish Votes

It's Washington D.C., 1957, Frank Church's first day as a United States Senator from Idaho. And Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson is turning the screws on him. "Now Frank, you are the youngest member of this Senate, and you have a great future..." the

Why Term Limits Don't Quite Strengthen Democracy

There is a bumper sticker I see from time to time: "Congress isn't a nursing home. Support term limits." With 65 members (15%) of the U.S. House and 34 members (34%) of the Senate over 70, Congress does appear to lead the country in workplace

The Key Thing 6 of the Last 8 U.S. Presidents Have in Common

What do four of the last six Speakers of the U.S. House and six of the last eight Presidents of the United States have in common? They all love lemon scones! That's not actually true. Let's take a short stroll through the origin stories of

Who Calls the Shots in Local Government

If you've been up at night asking yourself, "What is the most common form of local government?" your sleepless wonderings are over! The answer is not, in fact, clownshow. The most common form of local government across this fair land is – drumroll, rat-a-tat, and a shish-boom-bah!

If You Want to Know the Future

If you want to really wow folks at parties, tell them you can predict the future...of your town! This doesn't require a Magic 8 Ball, though that's quite wonderful to have. All it requires is getting familiar with an easy-to-miss local government document called the

A Terrific Must-Read Document for 2024

This is part of a short series on navigating 2024. A few other ideas here and here, you'll know what options feel right to you. Every so often, I treat myself to a romp through my city's budget. This juicy read is filled with a language

A Useful Spot to Place Our Attention in 2024

This is part of a short series on how to navigate 2024. There are plenty of ideas to share, you'll know which lands for you. There was no wait to vote at the American Legion. Pretty quiet all morning, the woman at the folding card table told me