Government we Deserve

It’s a quote attributed variously to Shakespeare, Jefferson, and Tocqueville. “People get the government they deserve.” Living in a representative democracy, what kind of government do we deserve if we don’t bother to vote? That’s what’s happening. Collin County is represented by six delegates to the Texas State Legislature. All are Republicans. Five are up for reelection this year. None will have an opponent in the fall. Only one faces opposition in the March primary and there has been no change in the delegation since 2002. The 2-7 thousand people from House District 67 who will vote in March represent the only prospect for turnover in this term. That’s a tiny fraction of the 200,000+ people who live in the district. A few votes either way will determine if we are to see any difference at all. We must be pretty happy with things down in Austin. I don’t believe that for a minute. There are three top issues on my list that the legislature is in a position to do something about: air, water, and transportation. They are big concerns for North Texas. I had the same list in the last election, and the one before that, and the one before that… I don’t think I’m alone. Our legislators have been in office a long time and have accomplished precious little in dealing with any of them. My state representative, the only one with an opponent this term, has held his seat for 15 years. He is most active on issues related to the penal system, especially youth corrections. Now that is an important civic responsibility but it isn’t on my list of top three. Absent the current scandal in the TYC I doubt it would be on the radar screen for most people in a district that runs through central Plano and along the southern edge of the county. His has not been a prominent voice in the annual dust up over pollution generated by cement kilns in Midlothian. I didn’t see his name come up in last year’s legislative brouhaha that almost saw our long term water plan derailed at a time of near crisis. I haven’t heard from him about the proliferation of toll roads in the region, and the state contribution to commuter rail seems to be limited to a discussion about whether we will be allowed to raise local taxes to pay for it. I don’t get the impression I am being well represented. Now I don’t mean to lay this all at the feet of one legislator and I could offer the same criticism of a lot of elected officials from City Hall to the national Congress. None of them seem to be doing much about the issues that matter most to me. That’s not the point. The point is the only offices I can directly influence are those representing the district I vote in. If I keep putting the same people back in office year after year I can’t expect anything to change. When a seat is so safe it goes uncontested in one election after another that leaves an incumbent free to be as active or inactive as he or she likes on issues that may be vital to constituents. That’s too safe. In this part of Texas winning a Republican nomination is tantamount to being elected. The only vote that counts for any office not state wide is the vote in the primary. Few of us are Democrats but lots of us consider ourselves independents. If we want any say we must vote in the Republican primary. To wait until the general election is to effectively not vote at all in local races. Those should be contested elections, all of them. They would be if we had a better turnout. It’s a vicious cycle; low turnout means fewer challenges, fewer challenges means lower turnout. So make up your list. If it’s different from mine, that’s ok with me. If you can find a challenger you like, vote for him. Maybe next time we’ll get more challengers. If we don’t vote we deserve what we get.