Academy of Local Politics

In order for someone to be a State Representative, they need to enjoy being in parades and going to chicken dinners.There is no other qualifications to getting elected to the State Legislature. If someone is really good at being in parades and going to chicken dinners they can get reelected term after term after term.

"But the next day I started eating like a pig. And I've been eating like a pig ever since," said Giles, 82. He sat in a hot conference room in his hot warehouse in Hartford's North End wearing two campaign buttons — one for him, one for Barak Obama. "I was the weakest man still alive, anywhere in the world," he said.

Which is to say that even Abe Giles is surprised that Abe Giles is running again.

Politics and Sports, especially baseball, have much in common.

Not just the games they play, but the people who play the games. I have high admiration for most of the participants in both. Most of them.

Which ...  brings me to a sports column written by Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News.

NOBODY WANTS to be booed. That goes without saying.

At the same time, a big-league player is expected to perform under pressure. So you have to wonder whether some have become a bit thin-skinned because of the enormous salaries and the legions of people who are always there to take care of their every need and the fawning coverage they get from all the media outlets that have business partnerships with the teams.

Royals outfielder Jose Guillen is in the first season of a 3-year, $36 million contract. He's also batting .176. Here's what he had to say about being booed at Kauffman Stadium: "It doesn't bother me to the point of carrying it to the field. But it [ticks] me off. I'm a home guy. So why should I be getting booed? You should be supporting the team."

And here's what reliever Jason Grilli, who was routinely booed at Detroit's Comerica Park, said after being traded to the Rockies this week: "The only thing I have against some Tigers fans . . . is that they should be pulling for your team, no matter what."

Well, boo-hoo . . .

First of all, fans support a team by buying tickets. Period. They are under no obligation to blindly cheer if the performance doesn't warrant it. And if they don't think the product on the field is worth spending their hard-earned money on, that's their right, as well.

Players who think the fans owe them something have it backward.

Politicians who think taxpayers owe them something, also have it backwards.

Would anyone care to leave a comment naming a political figure(s), who you believe thinks the taxpayers owe them? And why?

My nomination would be any Wisconsin State Representative who has been in office longer than 10 years that has never taken a "sick day". Because my guess is they probably have been, but they would rather double dip it.

That issue still irks me.

The State of Oregon is losing local officials. They are resigning one after another. It is about to get worse.

Why? The Eugene Register Guard tells us why...

The “statements of economic interest,” which must be filed with the state by April 15, ask officeholders to identify the sources (not amounts) of their income, as well as those of close relatives or members of their households. Other questions address property holdings, honoraria and particular types of debt and investments.

You read that right. A new ethics law requires local office holders to file a financial statement with the State of Oregon with all that information. 

Some small-town officials see the state’s new financial disclosure requirements as a slap in the face, an insult to the integrity of the volunteers who govern rural communities across Oregon. Others regard the ethics requirements as a violation of their privacy and an unnecessary deterrent to public service.

...the disclosure rules have prompted resignations of officials in cities across the state. Last month the entire planning commission for the city of Elgin quit. Four of seven planning commission members in Maupin submitted their resignations, as have officials in communities such as Rogue River, Gearhart and Carlton...but more may soon follow, because officials only recently began receiving the financial disclosure forms in the mail.

I think a lot more resignations will follow soon.

But, naturally the newspaper thinks this is a good idea.

Disclosure enables citizens to have confidence that their local governments are as open as possible, and it allows citizens to see that decision-makers are working for the public’s benefit and not their own.

Eventually, lawmakers should consider expanding the disclosure requirements to include special service governments, such as fire districts and soil and water conservation districts that should, like other local governments, be as open and transparent as possible.

As it is, two thirds of local elections go unopposed. With these requirements that figure would even go higher. Many positions would go unfilled. Volunteer to serve on a committee (with no pay)... not until you file this financial form with the State.

Some officials are so riled, they’re even calling for “civil disobedience.” Boardman Mayor Ed Glenn is urging officials to provide only their name, address and position and to answer all the remaining questions with “None of your business” or “N/A” for “not applicable.”

This could get very ugly. I'm rooting for the little guy.

An extraordinary amount of money is spent at the State and County level on prisoners. In fact, it was recently reported that 1 out of every 99.1 of us, is in prison or jail.

One out of a Hundred! That is an amazing statistic.

What do you feed all these people? I never really thought about that until read a post by Zach Patton on Governing.Com. It made my stomach turn.

If you're a prisoner in the Vermont corrections system and you  misbehave, you're likely to find something unappetizing at the next mealtime -- "nutraloaf," a mixture of cubed whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk and dehydrated potato flakes.

So, this "food" is used as punishment?

The state says it's a meal, but prisoners disagree. They say it's a punishment, and therefore it should be subject to the prison disciplinary process. They're suing the state to make sure that the next time they're served nutraloaf, it's only after due process and a disciplinary hearing.

What a prisoner can be fed...can be determined only after due process and a disciplinary hearing? He's gotta be kidding...or not?

A federal judge ruled in 1988 that the use of nutraloaf by the Michigan Department of Corrections was punishment. Now, Michigan inmates are only given nutraloaf after going through the disciplinary process that lands them in segregation.

I am very, very naive about prison life. I hope to keep it that way.

But, I sure wish we could figure out how to reduce that one out of a hundred.

My only idea is to publish the recipe of nutraloaf in hopes that may act as a deterrent.

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In some ways I am a neandrethrol. I just don't believe that government belongs in every decision...of every persons...everyday life. For that reason I have opposed Government imposed smoking bans on privately owned property. It is a losing side to be on, but I'm also a Brewer fan. 

For that reason I am really enjoying the news coming out of Minnesota. The online edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press gives us the story.

When the statewide smoking ban was passed last year, an exception was made for theatrical performances. What happened?

Using an exception allowing smoking as part of a theatrical production, numerous bars have walked a legal razor's edge by printing playbills, selling buttons that identify patrons as "actors" and allowing customers to light up.

The idea was hatched by criminal defense lawyer Mark Benjamin, who helped organize the first smoking performance at a Lake Mille Lacs resort. For the "play," Benjamin — who does not himself smoke — donned a medieval costume and argued that a bunch of patrons smoking in a crowded bar is every bit the artistic endeavor a production of "Les Miserables" would be.

I know I would rather sit in a crowded smoky bar watching a ball game instead of "Les Miserables".  So, is the idea catching on?

The Department of Health must be busy responding to complaints? Not exactly.

There have been no formal complaints.

It has however caught the attention of the State Legislature.

Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato, one author of the ban that went into effect Oct. 1. "I would discourage people from doing this, because I think they know it violates the intent of the law."

and...

"A lot of people are mocking state law," said Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, another architect of the law. 

Yes they are mocking the law Senator, and I for one am loving it.