Local Government is far more important than most people give it credit for. More so than high levels of government, local politics affect our lives and shape the world around us.

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Local Governments provide a ton of services we all rely on every day. They plow our snow, they remove our sewage, in many places they provide our power. Do you like roads? If they're in a city or town, they were most likely paved by your municipal government. Ever been helped by the fire department? Those are city or county employees. Ever ridden public transit? You probably payed a fair, but it was available thanks to your local government. Unless you're a survivalist living in Alaska just waiting on the nucear apocalypse, it'd be pretty hard to go through your day without your local government.

Local Governments are much more responsive to your comments and concerns. For no cost but some of your time, you can go and attend City Council meetings. If there's an issue that you care about, there's a good chance that you will be able to speak to your council members about that. Unlike members of the US Government, it's not hard to even get a one on one meeting with most local politicians, which is pretty neat. Just call up their office, and see when they have time free. With our new technologies, it's even easier than it ever was in the past. If you have twitter or facebook, many local politicians have their own accounts, and will respond to you over social media. That means that you can literally participate in local politics while sitting on the toilet. I'm not saying that that's advisible, or sanitary, but that's how easy it is.

Local Governments have a large effect on the culture of the people that they serve. They are the rudder that guides the ship. A city government can choose to encourage or hamper the population growth of their municipality. They could decide to install bike lanes, or they can decide to increase the capacity of the roads. In some areas, the county can pick between dedicating funds to schools, jails or public transit. In addition to the decisions, many of the defining features of the places we live are there because the people and local governments of those places decided it should be so. Portland and Seattle are filled with public art thanks largely to their nifty public arts taxes. Las Vegas is going to be the new home of the Raiders, thanks to efforts from the Las Vegas City Government, and a public subsidy from the Nevada State Government. The famous New York Subway system exists today, thanks largely to the city and metropolitan governments. Our towns and cities would be unrecognizable if it were not for the people who served on their local governments, and the decisions they have made.

It's hard to remember how much of an effect our local politicians have on our lives. Even though it's easy for us to reach out to them, sometimes it can feel like they're a million miles away. We often only hear about them when something's wrong, and that can make it difficult to see how much they really do. When you put it all into perspective though, it's easy to see how important our Local Governments really are.

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