Matt Horn is the Director of Local Government Services for MRB Group; a multi-disciplinary community-building firm. In his spare time, he litigates publishing rights to several compositions he claims to have contributed to, including “Happy Birthday,” “Auld Lang Syne,” and “Yellow Ledbetter.” Check out his non-musical contributions on LinkedIn.
- What I’m watching: Taking myself back to sixth grade and binging “Mr. McMahon” on Netflix. My kids are still waaay into wrestling, so it’s good to show them why it was great in my day, and it stinks today… that’s the secret of parenting, convincing your kids that they missed out.
- What I’m listening to: I am definitely an election junkie… and a cheap one at that… so, on my morning and evening commute, I am listening to the various candidate interviews via YouTube — Kamala on Stern, “60 Minutes,” etc.
- What I’m reading: “Reset” by Johnny Taylor Jr. A great overview on change management, innovation, and the power of workplace culture — for good or evil.
Depending on your personal propensity toward national election drama, this October is either the best time of your life, or something akin to the scene in “Step Brothers” where they run Mr. Doback’s boat into the ground. (Prestige Worldwide!) For me, it’s tough to remember a time when I was more concerned about ‘Merica’s prospects…
But, whenever I get too mired down in the sadness that is debate non-answers (“…that’s an excellent question…and before I answer it, I’d like to recite the opening monologue from ‘The Godfather’…”), I think about how lucky I am to be supported by a government so close to home that I can caucus with leadership in the Wegmans produce aisle. I don’t know how things are where you come from, but here in the Lake Trout Capital of the World, the farther from 47 Castle St. government gets, the weirder it gets…
So, each day until Nov. 5, I think about the many ways that local government can shrug off the national ballot blues, and give our residents the kind of responsiveness and value they deserve. Here are my top five reasons that local government is better than… well, I don’t want to throw stones, so let’s just say that local government is better…
- No. 5: Balanced Budgets — Every fall, we hop into the ring and debate the merits of local spending — priorities, mandates, affordability… it’s all on the table. And, at the end, the numbers come out equal. Revenues equal expenditures. We borrow for big things, and draw from savings when things get tight, but we don’t go into the next year without balance…
- No. 4: Accessibility — Every day I run into one or more key leaders in my community. If I don’t already have it, I can readily get the phone number and address of every elected official and most department heads. I live in a smallish town, but it wasn’t much different when I lived in bigger cities. Try ringing up the Secretary of the Interior and see where that gets you…
- No. 3: Visibility of Results — When I got into local government, I never dreamed how quickly I would see the results of the work of my team and my organization. When city leaders take action, things happen. Some are good, some are not so good… but we can nearly immediately feel the results. Capitalize on the good, mitigate the not good. If you dropped a boulder into the federal ocean, you wouldn’t even see a ripple for a decade.
- No. 2: Self-Determination — In many, many (not yet all, sadly) communities around the country, if you want to be part of the discussion, you can find a way. Jump on a committee, planning board, Blue Ribbon Commission on Trick or Treating Hours… you name it. In short, the community gets to decide what it wants to be as it continues to grow.
And the No. 1 reason I love local government — NEIGHBORS LEADING NEIGHBORS! The folks in the top seats know that the decisions they make will affect themselves as much as they affect me. It’s difficult for state or federal leaders to make that connection, but here on Main Street, we’re in this together.
So, in between robocalls about tax breaks on pony rides, take a moment to visit a local park, watch the YouTube episode of your last city council meeting, and thank your neighbors for making your community great… again!