This particular story comes from Atlantic Beach, FL.

But, it could be practically anywhere.

Tom and Julie Weber  love keeping chickens at their house.

They say they’re great pets, they provide eggs and their daughter, Wren,  loves playing with them.

But on Feb. 11, an animal control officer warned the Webers they were violating a city ordinance that forbids chickens at residences. The officer gave them 72 hours to part ways with the plucky poultry.

The Webers are pushing back.

This week,  Julie Weber took their fight to City Hall, armed with a 100-name petition supporting them.

“It’s a bit archaic that you can’t keep chickens,” she said Wednesday.  “Now, as we are moving toward understanding locally grown food, it’s an important piece of that.”

Next month my city will be considering an ordinance which would allow up to six chickens (no rooster). I honestly don’t know what to think about it.

Any thoughts anyone?

On Monday President Obama held a “fiscal sustainability summit.”

Some critics dismissed the half-day gathering as a public relations stunt in the midst of galloping budget deficits. Last week saw the signing of the $787bn fiscal stimulus package, while this year’s budget deficit is expected to exceed $1,500bn

Although Lawrence Summers, head of the National Economic Council, fell asleep on the podium, most attendees, including Republicans, appear to have appreciated the exercise. 

Yes, at the Fiscal Sustainability Summit the head of President Obama’s National Economic Council fell asleep.

There is so much money coming out of Washington DC these days it is hard to keep up.

You know … you just know that much of it is being wasted.

The state of Washington sent out $1 checks to the 250,000 food stamp recipients in the state.

The director of the Community Services Division for the Department of Social and Health Services, Leo Ribas, says the checks mailed Feb. 17 trigger an additional $43 million in federal food benefits. They also connect recipients to an energy assistance program.

Ribas says the $1 check is a one-time move to leverage the federal money. He says next year the state will be able to trigger the federal assistance through a routine deposit in food stamp accounts.

Thank goodness this option was available to trigger the extra money this year.

Yes, I’m being cynical.

Some local governments talk about transparency. An honest attempt to open lines of communication with the public.

Then there is Macomb, County, MI who not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.

Even as Macomb County officials write a new constitution, consider a property tax increase and wrestle with a deficit that threatens jobs and services, only a few residents are attending public meetings.

Advocates of open government say the turnouts aren’t a sign of apathy but rather that residents are too busy.

Now, county commissioners are responding with technology that soon will allow residents to listen to every county meeting at home from their Internet-connected computers.

No other county in southeast Michigan offers such a service.

“We’re very excited about it,” county Clerk Carmella Sabaugh said. “Getting these meetings to the public makes governments more accountable.”

Earlier this month, the Clerk’s Office began streaming live Web audio from meetings of the Charter Commission, a group charged with revamping county government.

Can’t listen live? Every meeting has been recorded and archived so you can listen at the click of a mouse. The audio is available at www.macombcountymi.gov/clerksoffice.

County officials soon plan to offer audio of every board and committee meeting on the county’s Web site, www.macombcountymi.gov.

Costs are minimal, officials say, because the technology already is in place.

“We need to inform the public about how their tax dollars are being spent,” said Commissioner Jim Carabelli, R-Shelby Township.

My local public channel has just started to experiment with live streaming on the web. There can’t be too much of this kind of technology used for me.

Different states have different laws. Naturally, I am more aware of Wisconsin law than any other state.

Indiana is considering changing a law that is quite different from Wisconsin.

Police, firefighters and other local government workers could no longer be elected to simultaneously serve on their own governing bodies under a bill that passed the Indiana Senate on Monday.

The commission had called for the end of government employees in essence being their own bosses, calling the practice an obvious conflict of interest.

A review by The Indianapolis Star in December found numerous examples across the state of such conflicts, including one Hammond streets superintendent who, as a Hammond City Council member, proposed and voted for a raise for the streets post.

Even if there wasn’t a legal conflict of interest the ethical conflict of interest should be avoided.

Let’s hope Indiana, and any other state that may still allow this practice, will change those laws.

I had never heard of a Municipal Management District.

 Wikipedia doesn’t even have anything about them. 

But, then I read about Dallas,TX …

Dallas City Hall took a little-publicized step Wednesday toward creating districts that would give private developers the power to tax and issue public debt. They want to turn three areas into Municipal Management Districts, similar to those already seen in Houston.

In the resolution passed Wednesday by City Hall, taxation can only be levied with the approval of a majority of voters within the district.

I’m still not sure exactly how these work. I assume they would be similar to Business Improvement Districts.

But, when I read that private developers would be able to tax and  issue public debt I shudder.

I like private developers. Private developers are my friends.

I love concrete and fresh blacktop.

But, developers tax and issue public debt?

We have all heard Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity … ” doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Local government insanity is protecting your our turf at all costs.

This comes from from Minnesota but it could be from almost anywhere.

About 30 years ago, twinkle-eyed state Rep. James Pehler drafted a bill that, had he introduced it, would have caused a stir in his district. It would have planted a compass point on a map of downtown St. Cloud, drawn a circle with a 30-mile radius and made it the boundary of a new jurisdiction, to be aptly named “Round County.” 

 Within Pehler’s “Round County,” 47 local governmental bodies coexist, not always in harmony.

Damn right, not always in harmony. Do your local governments coexist in harmony? Is there overlap in services? Waste? Petty bickering?

Political Insanity?

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

Protecting your own turf at all costs?

Over the past year I have corresponded with a colleague in Canada who insists that local government consolidation in Canada has not produced the savings that were expected. He advises against the idea.

I gotta believe there is a better way than having 47 jurisdictions within a 30 mile circle.

I think James Pehler was way ahead of his time.

I have a friend who claims all elected officials are crooks.

They aren’t…  but lets run some numbers.

According to the latest statistics I can find there are 511,039 elected officials in the USA.

Statistics also show that 1 in every 15 (6.6%) people serve time in state or federal prison.

Since elected officials are representative of the general public that means of every 511,039 serving in elected office at any one time … 33,728 of them will also serve prison time.

So, while they aren’t all crooks, with that many of them making the news for all the wrong reasons it can seem that way at times.

I am often asked … Why did they do THAT?

Whatever THAT may be.

I have found there are basically three reasons  local elected officials make dumb decisions.

1) Local elected officials are novices. In their “real life” they are professionals but once they start serving on a local government body they start as novices. They have no idea at all what kind of decisions they will be asked to make. But, they will be required to make decisions on issues they have no experience. Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement. Add to the fact the average length of time a local official serves (4-5 years) there is a constant turnover of novices. Mistakes are inevitable.

2) Local elected officials many times deal with problems. A problem is an issue which has no good solution. If it did have a good solution it would be an opportunity, not a problem. Since there is no good solution no matter what decision they make could be considered dumb.

3) Many times local elected officials are accused of keeping secrets from the citizens. Quite often it is just the opposite. Citizens who have knowledge on an issue do not give that input in a timely fashion. They keep their knowledge a secret. Without timely and knowledgeable input on issues, bad decisions can be reached.

So, there you have it.

Every time a dumb decision is made by a local governing body the reason “why” can be found in one of those reasons.

The Daily Journal of International Falls, MN has a concern.

Red flags should wave anytime government attempts to limit access by the public.

And red flags should be waving all over St. Louis County, as the county board there seeks a legal opinion about whether the board can ban private residents from recording its meetings.

Even asking for a legal opinion on the issue goes against the grain of open government.

Commissioner Keith Nelson of Eveleth says he’s concerned that small portions of the board discussions are being edited and taking out of context “to make people look bad,” according to a newspaper report.

Asking for a legal opinion to restrict recording of its meetings makes them look bad enough all by itself.

They don’ t need any help looking bad.