Legislators love local control.
Mainly because true "local control" is popular with the
towns and most taxpayers, and it means votes for the legislator. And
"local control" should be popular. Local control,
for instance, would be a town voting to decide what standards their
school should follow as opposed to the state telling a town which
standards it will follow. Don't we wish!
Power hungry local officials,
however, often seek "HOME RULE", and call it "local
control". We had a few laws like this pass last session (I
voted NO). What is the difference?
"Local control"
allows taxpayers in a town to decide how issues that affect only
that town should be handled.
"Home rule" allows
taxpayers in a town to decide how issues that affect other state
residents passing through town should be handled.
A good example of each:
The townspeople vote on which
roads should be salted in the winter. Local control.
The townspeople vote that
automobiles must have bumpers between 18 and 24 inches off the road,
no higher or lower. Someone from town #2 that voted bumpers should
be 22 to 26 inches off the road drives through town #1 and is
ticketed. Now imagine town #3 voted bumpers should be 16 to 21
inches off the road. You can imagine the problems. New Hampshire
does not allow home rule. Unfortunately, it does sneak through
occasionally.
Don't be mislead when a law
good for one town, but bad for others, is called "local
control". It isn't.
