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I find them equally important. They impact my life in different but important ways. Local politics deserve attention too, in my mind. Of course, I live in a community where the values of said community are taken seriously by most of the people who live here, and maintaining those values means having an interest in local politics.
I know who my city councilman is. I know who the other city councilors are. I know who the mayor is, and know he won quite handily in the last election. He wasn't the candidate I voted for.
I read the local paper every day, plus the various blogs by the paper reporters, to keep me up-to-date on what's going on here in Corvallis.
And genuinegirly, we have a smoking ban, but it's an indoor smoking ban (like the statewide one where you live; we don't have a statewide ban here). The smoking ban here is an example of the positive impact city government can have. We're still one of the only cities in Oregon with an indoor smoking ban, though it has spread considerably. Portland still has no indoor smoking ban. We also have a zero-growth policy, meaning all of the development within city limits has to go before the City Council for approval. Given that one of our core community values is to promote and encourage small business, this is especially key. The Council often denies development that does not fit in with our long-term plans. However, they do make exceptions when there is an obvious service not available that is being proposed; for instance, they approved the development of a Home Depot, as we only have two tiny mom-and-pop hardware stores for a town of 50,000+. They've approved commercial development of a parcel of land at the south end of town as commercial services in general are lacking in that part of town.
We have a city council election going on right now, obviously; my councilman is up for reelection and I plan on reelecting him. Additionally, there are other seats up, but a number of councilors are running unopposed. One of the seats that is being contested I really hope goes in favor of one candidate over another. In a public forum last week, one of the candidates for this seat said he wanted to cut parks and rec services to save taxes. What?! Parks and rec are a cornerstone of our community; almost everyone I know takes advantage of their services, either by using the parks themselves, taking a parks and rec class, or playing parks and rec sports. Clearly, this guy does not belong on the Corvallis City Council, as he doesn't understand that a councilor doesn't represent his own interests; ideally, a councilor represents the interests of his constituents.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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