Interviewing State Senators and Representatives
It seems that many folks today have a less than favorable view of government. (And that might be putting it mildly.) We view our elected officials as self-interested politicians, perhaps overly influenced by special interest groups. Partisan bickering creates gridlock and so nothing gets done, or so we believe.
Utah Association of Counties
Recently, I had a chance to get down to “where the rubber meets the road,” as far as government goes. BWP conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with some of our state officials at the State Capitol Senate and House Chambers. We were engaged in conducting research for the Utah Association of Counties, which defines itself as being “The Unifying Voice Of county Government.” What we heard was quite the opposite of what citizens today tend to think about government, at least in general. We discovered most elected officials at the county level tend to be much less party-affiliated, less partisan and more actively engaged in trying to find solutions for everyday folks.
Getting a Marriage or Driver’s License
To get a marriage license, pay your property taxes, obtain a driver’s license—all government-related tasks—you have to do business at the county level. And most of those officials are just trying to provide services which make our lives easier, consume less of our time and be less costly for us. Each of those county officials has to pay the same taxes, they have to undergo the same tasks daily as each of us and so tend to be more in-line with the notion of “getting stuff done” rather than playing party politics.
“Where The Rubber Meets the Road”
As one Senator put it, “to me, county government is where the rubber meets the road in our representative democracy. Government at the county level is really what the founding fathers intended government to be.” He went to admit that even at the state government level it’s not always possible to be as proactive and as efficient as you’d hope it to be. But at the county level–where most of us actually interact with government–those officials, the county government departments, they really do a great job of providing the services that we all need to have as rich and as complete a life as possible in our united democracy.
