OPINION: The Paradox of Localism

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‍Part Seven in a Series on Burien.

When you ask a local elected official about problems in the community generated from bad state and national policies, the elected official will often defer to the fact that as a local official, there is little that can be done about that because it is outside the local jurisdiction. This form of pleading impotence by local officials, which we all have experienced, is, unfortunately, a misunderstanding of the real power inherent in being elected at the local level.

All locally elected officials, no matter how small the jurisdiction, have a policy discussion responsibility for all issues: state, national or international, because all these issues affect the local jurisdiction. To add to this misunderstanding, many people say the problem, at the local level, is the lack of “local control” by the people of the community over what happens in the community. But since the bigger problems are not generally local, what is it that is being controlled by “local control?” The paradox is that the more people clamor for “local control,” the more powerless a community becomes in dealing with its problems, which are caused outside of local control.

The solution to this paradox lies in understanding there are two forms of local control. One is that “local control” can be used to oppress a community. The other is a “weaponized” local control, where locally elected leaders educate their constituencies in understanding the causes of state and national-level policy disasters affecting their community. Following this, their constituents are mobilized to act, alongside alliances with other local communities, to affect change at the state and national levels. This is what the elected leadership of all local communities, including Burien, must seek to do in these deteriorating times.

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‍Mr. Glumaz is former US Congressional candidate, who has been analyzing governmental systems for over four decades. As a former Marxist and former committed atheist, he brings a unique perspective to societal and governmental structures. His primary concern is Washington State and King County, and he has recently become acutely aware of the unique oppression that Burien, a small business centered community, has been experiencing. The recent lawsuits by the KC Sheriff, homeless and homeless advocates, King County's sanctioned homeless encampment, and the "Raise the Wage Burien" initiative, have caused him to question, "Why Burien?"

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