5 ms·

Uh, I used to live in the DC area so take this comment in that spirit: The Local DC City government is one of the most dysfunctional, corrupt, and ineffective

by Nrsolis 14y ago

Uh, I used to live in the DC area so take this comment in that spirit: The Local DC City government is one of the most dysfunctional, corrupt, and ineffective local governments of a large metropolitan area. There is nothing pretty about how "governing" gets done in DC. Go take a taxi ride in DC and tell me about your experience. For grins, try and get a LEGAL taxi ride from Union Station at 2am that conforms to the taxi regulations. For bigger grins, try and get some action/resolution to the blatantly illegal behavior of taxi drivers from the Taxi Commission that was the subject of this whole effort. In DC, you really can't do better than the Taxi Commission as an example of regulatory capture.

ChuckMcM 14y ago
I am aware as they say. I used to play a game with my kids (invented by a friend of mine) where we replaced the phrase 'The Government' with 'my neighbor', and 'our Government' with 'We'. We used to joke you get out of your government what you put in. So if your local government is corrupt and dysfunctional, then you don't have the best folks in place so you need to replace them. And replacing them requires that the community to engage. Its actually easier at the local level than the national level, and the national level draws from the local level. What most people don't understand is that you can often volunteer at your local government. You can be on commissions or focus groups or elsewhere. If you have the time it can be worthwhile, and with the right attitude, enjoyable. Don't try to fix everything at once, but just start making things better. The change can be remarkable, one person doing a standup job for 'free' can be a powerful motivation for a lot of people around them.
- Nrsolis 14y ago
  SO... We actually did try to fix the local government. We put Adrian Fenty in office and gave him free reign to get DC government working properly. Of course, when he tried to fix public education (via Michelle Rhee) he ran smack into the buzzsaw that was the teachers union that steadfastly refused to take any responsibility for actually teaching students. Now we have another set of bought-and-paid-for charlatans. Just like they want. And there's the rub really: if you come into government and try to actually change things, you're going to upset an entire class of people that benefit from things staying exactly as they are. In many cases, they outnumber you. They are organized around protecting the status quo. The idea that a single person can mobilize to change things is quaint but RARELY how you get real change. It takes a sustained effort, over many many years to change ANYTHING in government. As an example, only RECENTLY did they get actual METERS in the cabs in DC. Think about that. It took something like 10 years from start to finish to legislate meters in the taxis. When I was there, there was a minor scandal surounding taxi drivers bribing the vehicle inspectors with $100 bills in the ashtrays to pass the vehicles. Think about that. We had criminals serving on the police force. It's an entire city built on giving city jobs to people who vote in your candidate. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is just a fantasy.
  - ChuckMcM 14y ago
    "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is just a fantasy." Actually its just a movie. You can't "fix the local government by putting <insert person> into office." You need a 25 year plan to 'fix' your local government if it is that out of whack. There is a reason the US Constitution doesn't start with "Me, the smart guy in the room, in order to form a more perfect Union ..." This: "It took something like 10 years from start to finish to legislate meters in the taxis." Yes, it takes commitment, time, and consistent effort. It takes leaders and it takes workers. It takes years of educating people to the need and getting their support. But it can be done.
    - Nrsolis 14y ago
      OR...you can do what I did and leave. Score one for individual liberty. At some point, it makes sense for a person to cut their losses and move somewhere where like minded people have already learned that responsible government starts with a responsible population. Which brings me to my last point on the subject: all of the entrenched interests in the city of DC are there because they enjoy and support the current system. Nevermind that it's completely dysfunctional and doesn't serve the residents. It serves their perverted needs and they'll fight tooth and nail to keep it that way. Ever wonder how Marion Barry got re-elected to the city council despite a conviction for smoking crack and YEARS of tax shenanigans that threatened to put him back in jail? At some point, you look around and realize that you're the only one in the room that wants change.
      - oinksoft 14y ago
        About Marion Barry ... he's corrupt, so are most big city politicians. But (1) nobody in the Ward 8 cares about a rock cocaine offense decades ago (cocaine has been such a big problem in that part of the city, it's likely every voter has has been close to an addict or otherwise touched since the early 80's), and (2) the other stuff about personal tax cheating, getting busted with weed, etc. is just water under the bridge to most Ward 8 voters. At the end of the day, none of those things (apart from the expected corruption) affect how Barry does his job. And the voters in Ward 8, far and away the poorest part of the city, know that when the shit hits the fan, Barry looks out for those who usually don't have much of a voice in DC. While Ward 3 residents were patting Fenty on the back for putting up bicycle lanes and dog parks, the Ward 8 voters were pissed to see a mayor basically pandering to the wealthy voters and screwing the poor. These are the same voters who voted for Gray and his crony, corrupt administration in the last mayoral election. They know very well that Rhee's "No Child Left Behind"-style reforms were just going to screw up the school system worse for their kids. And they sure as hell didn't want to re-elect Fenty, who never showed that he was willing to work on the tough problems that cause DC's entrenched poverty. The Fenty approach to poverty (which was really Anthony Williams' approach on steroids) was to price out the poor folk until they have to move to some hole like Temple Hills or Capitol Heights, no longer being DC's problem.

by Nrsolis 14y ago

ChuckMcM 14y ago

I am aware as they say. I used to play a game with my kids (invented by a friend of mine) where we replaced the phrase 'The Government' with 'my neighbor', and 'our Government' with 'We'. We used to joke you get out of your government what you put in. So if your local government is corrupt and dysfunctional, then you don't have the best folks in place so you need to replace them. And replacing them requires that the community to engage. Its actually easier at the local level than the national level, and the national level draws from the local level. What most people don't understand is that you can often volunteer at your local government. You can be on commissions or focus groups or elsewhere. If you have the time it can be worthwhile, and with the right attitude, enjoyable. Don't try to fix everything at once, but just start making things better. The change can be remarkable, one person doing a standup job for 'free' can be a powerful motivation for a lot of people around them.

Nrsolis 14y ago
SO... We actually did try to fix the local government. We put Adrian Fenty in office and gave him free reign to get DC government working properly. Of course, when he tried to fix public education (via Michelle Rhee) he ran smack into the buzzsaw that was the teachers union that steadfastly refused to take any responsibility for actually teaching students. Now we have another set of bought-and-paid-for charlatans. Just like they want. And there's the rub really: if you come into government and try to actually change things, you're going to upset an entire class of people that benefit from things staying exactly as they are. In many cases, they outnumber you. They are organized around protecting the status quo. The idea that a single person can mobilize to change things is quaint but RARELY how you get real change. It takes a sustained effort, over many many years to change ANYTHING in government. As an example, only RECENTLY did they get actual METERS in the cabs in DC. Think about that. It took something like 10 years from start to finish to legislate meters in the taxis. When I was there, there was a minor scandal surounding taxi drivers bribing the vehicle inspectors with $100 bills in the ashtrays to pass the vehicles. Think about that. We had criminals serving on the police force. It's an entire city built on giving city jobs to people who vote in your candidate. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is just a fantasy.
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is just a fantasy." Actually its just a movie. You can't "fix the local government by putting <insert person> into office." You need a 25 year plan to 'fix' your local government if it is that out of whack. There is a reason the US Constitution doesn't start with "Me, the smart guy in the room, in order to form a more perfect Union ..." This: "It took something like 10 years from start to finish to legislate meters in the taxis." Yes, it takes commitment, time, and consistent effort. It takes leaders and it takes workers. It takes years of educating people to the need and getting their support. But it can be done.
  - Nrsolis 14y ago
    OR...you can do what I did and leave. Score one for individual liberty. At some point, it makes sense for a person to cut their losses and move somewhere where like minded people have already learned that responsible government starts with a responsible population. Which brings me to my last point on the subject: all of the entrenched interests in the city of DC are there because they enjoy and support the current system. Nevermind that it's completely dysfunctional and doesn't serve the residents. It serves their perverted needs and they'll fight tooth and nail to keep it that way. Ever wonder how Marion Barry got re-elected to the city council despite a conviction for smoking crack and YEARS of tax shenanigans that threatened to put him back in jail? At some point, you look around and realize that you're the only one in the room that wants change.
    - oinksoft 14y ago
      About Marion Barry ... he's corrupt, so are most big city politicians. But (1) nobody in the Ward 8 cares about a rock cocaine offense decades ago (cocaine has been such a big problem in that part of the city, it's likely every voter has has been close to an addict or otherwise touched since the early 80's), and (2) the other stuff about personal tax cheating, getting busted with weed, etc. is just water under the bridge to most Ward 8 voters. At the end of the day, none of those things (apart from the expected corruption) affect how Barry does his job. And the voters in Ward 8, far and away the poorest part of the city, know that when the shit hits the fan, Barry looks out for those who usually don't have much of a voice in DC. While Ward 3 residents were patting Fenty on the back for putting up bicycle lanes and dog parks, the Ward 8 voters were pissed to see a mayor basically pandering to the wealthy voters and screwing the poor. These are the same voters who voted for Gray and his crony, corrupt administration in the last mayoral election. They know very well that Rhee's "No Child Left Behind"-style reforms were just going to screw up the school system worse for their kids. And they sure as hell didn't want to re-elect Fenty, who never showed that he was willing to work on the tough problems that cause DC's entrenched poverty. The Fenty approach to poverty (which was really Anthony Williams' approach on steroids) was to price out the poor folk until they have to move to some hole like Temple Hills or Capitol Heights, no longer being DC's problem.