As we are fully into election season, we’ve been reflecting on several examples in recent weeks and months of local government sabotaging their own efforts and those of citizens to effect ecological restoration and education.

In one example, city officials gave the go-ahead to mow down an expensive, recently installed habitat for native pollinators so a local business could use the area to socially distance patrons. We do believe business survival is a worthy cause; but the lack of process by the city to gather stakeholders and discuss options is the kind of government-by-no-effort that causes many of our societal problems.

Another municipality recently decided to eliminate their Nature Center, a decades-old institution that fostered care for nature for countless schoolchildren and adults. In addition to this large budget cut, the city is returning tens of thousands of dollars of grants to Board of Water and Soil Resources that were earmarked for residents. Turning down free money that would help residents improve their properties and the city would be a good thing for us all to remember as we cast our ballots.

Another suburb has been in the news lately for passing overnight legislation to prevent a man who wanted a garden in his front yard. There was no effort to enforce this instant ordinance on any other front-yard gardeners; just our gardener. One of the reasons given was that front yard gardens could lead to people congregating in their front yards. Next thing you know people might actually start to behave like neighbors, which somehow scares our bureaucrats.

While our leaders in Washington are wreaking havoc with bickering and partisan politics, it’s equally important to pay attention to our local, dysfunctional, and “me-first” governmental officials. People who make decisions like those above are not worthy to lead us; we deserve much better.

Make your voice heard and vote this week.