Local Government: Most Important, Most Overlooked

A great deal of attention goes into the national, trending topics surrounding the federal government – especially during years with Presidential campaigns. This is reflected in voter turnout rates in Virginia in recent years, with 2022 and 2023 averaging to about a 43 percent turnout rate compared to 2020’s 75 percent (less than 16 percent and 25 percent in primaries respectively). Local elections are seen as a less important checklist item compared to everything you see on the news. However, the role local government plays in your day-to-day life should not be undermined. In recent years, we have seen localities tackle issues that garner a lot more attention. Data centers, affordable housing, green space – the balance of innovation and regulation often falls under these jurisdictions.

Local government includes everything from development and what is built near you to parks to schools to road maintenance. It is designed to be the most community-engaged mode of government (and the most fun). These essential services and operational items are critical to economic development and infrastructure planning. The National Civic League highlights the undervaluing of local government, which employs over 500,000 officials and manages $2 trillion in spending. The City of Fairfax alone has a total revenue of over $237 million for the Adopted FY2025 Budget. This allocation affects our public safety officials, our transit system, community events and recreational activities, and our schools. This level of government offers a high amount of creativity for programs and partnerships, yet the main focus are the practical issues for you and your neighbors.

As a county employee, my energy is centered on constituent service casework like reporting flooding of a property, citations for overgrown grass and invasive species, and business/home permits. And while it may not sound attractive, I think it is fun and rewarding. I often get to sit down with community members and brainstorm ideas for potential solutions, then see what can be done to help people. One of my favorite stories involves recycling. A community association reached out to me on initiatives to support glass recycling education in their area. After our office spoke with them further, we coordinated on getting them set up with a purple bin from the glass recycling bin program (purple can club). It required negotiation between where the association wanted it and where the state Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would allow it to be placed. That bin has recycled over 30,000 pounds of glass waste. That is good governance and what makes local government so impactful.

There are a lot of ideas on how to increase civic education on local government and common-sense policymaking. Multiple studies and articles show a consistent theme that needs to be followed – community inclusion. The nation is shrouded in rhetoric of negative political discourse and exhaustion. We have an election every year in Virginia and involvement has been impacted as people feel ignored or a part of a routine. This is evident in discussions around the standard public hearing set up. These studies highlight that hearings often lack young and minority voices, and suggest that the experience of participating in a public hearing actually reduces a participant’s feelings of community attachment. Ideas like volunteer banks, community rewards programs with local businesses, and participatory budgeting are opportunities to engage our youth and citizens in our localities. Government and politics can often seem exclusionary, so mitigating that perception is important. The American Bar Association highlights different voting practices states and localities are adopting to increase voter turnout and civic engagement. We can explore these options and gauge what the community likes.

Elected officials will not know everything nor have all the answers to our most pressing items, but we (especially the City of Fairfax) live in a vibrant community of bright minds. They are flooded with ideas that we should work to explore.