"Kootenai County Alternative Form of Government Meeting 7/21
The democratic committee interviewee was unhelpful and uninformed. he was unable or unwilling to give any straightforward answers to questions, and his poor performance was a comfort to me. He made one alarming statement of "...government is too complex for the garden-variety citizen to understand." This caused a stir among the crowd, and one lady quietly said "we want to understand."
The citizens can and want to understand, and if you have looked at the historical track record of U.S. patriots wanting something, you are aware that they will achieve it. The people want to understand; and they will be informed--both by the alternative form of government research committee directly and by way of their own research. This brings me to my next point: citizens informing other citizens.
Those researching law, the interworkings of our local government, attending public meetings, etc. need to report what we are learning to others. In the Alternative Form of Government Study Committee meeting on 7/21, it was mentioned that the committee will make a recommendation to the commissioners, and if anything is to be decided about changing our local government, it will be put on a ballot for Kootenai County citizens to vote on. We definitely need to continue attending these committee meetings, but we also need to make sure we are reporting what we hear at the meetings to our fellow citizens.
Something worth stressing to other citizens is that it may be best to keep the number of commissioners at three, not increasing to five or seven, as is being mentioned. One argument given in favor of increasing the number of commissioners was that a larger group is "harder to politicize." The larger group may actually be easier to politicize because the group of five or seven would allow two commissioners to meet in private behind closed doors. In the current group of three, they are barred from doing so, and can only discuss the issues at hand among their group of three. This allows for more transparency. If increasing the number of commissioners makes it onto the ballot, the voters need to be aware of that important detail.
We need to be aware of all the facts. Attend public meetings, read legislation, and be involved in the transfer of the information you are learning. The truth and details are hard to come by, and our neighbors need to know what they are really voting on."
Written by E
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