What if you were in charge of your county government?

[Matt Collins]

What if you were in charge of your county government?


Someone I know will be in this position very soon and I would like RPF to toss around some ideas for me to share with them.

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

Leave it smaller than you found it.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Drag the sheriffs in by their collars and make them sign the oath keepers pledge or loose their job....

-t

[YumYum]

What if you were in charge of your county government?


Someone I know will be in this position very soon and I would like RPF to toss around some ideas for me to share with them.

Have them eat at Sam's Sushi in Nashville.:)

[IPSecure]

Dig up the county CAFR, and start cutting.

How many golf courses do they own?

[tremendoustie]

What if you were in charge of your county government?


Someone I know will be in this position very soon and I would like RPF to toss around some ideas for me to share with them.

Start transitioning services to a voluntary basis. I really don't know how much power they have, and over what exactly, but try to create/encourage voluntary alternatives to government services, and cut those services. If they have any control over schools, I'd say the goal should be to, transition to vouchers, then start sending vouchers only to poor families.

Probably he/she doesn't have nearly that much power ... just shrink whatever you can, I'd say.

[lynnf]

What if you were in charge of your county government?


Someone I know will be in this position very soon and I would like RPF to toss around some ideas for me to share with them.

reverse any global governance aspects of "smart growth", "sustainable development", Agenda 21 type programs

lynn

[Reason]

Drag the sheriffs in by their collars and make them sign the oath keepers pledge or loose their job....

-t

I wouldn't "make them" but I would quietly figure out which would join of their own free will if given the opportunity and then keep those guys.

[tremendoustie]

I wouldn't "make them" but I would quietly figure out which would join of their own free will if given the opportunity and then keep those guys.

MUCH smarter. Promote the good guys, fire the bad guys.

A bad guy doesn't become good by being forced to make a promise.

Oh, can he prioritize police activities? Make drug laws, and any other victimless crime/regulation the absolute lowest priority. Violent crime top priority, crimes against other people's property second priority.

[Vessol]

Try to aim to make it so that the cost of running a county government is akin to the cost of running an ice cream truck.

[libertybrewcity]

Let the people decide where their tax dollars go.

Private services starting with trash.

Get rid of unnecessary government jobs.

Abolish county sales tax.

If it is a large county, they might have a public transportation system. Encourage people to use it and privatize it.

Property tax freeze and elimination.

Slash the budget so you are always on budget. Let local communities decide what they want to do with the money their community sends. For example, people in northern california get pissed be most of their tax dollars go down south to LA and SF.

Eliminate the county government all together:)

[libertybrewcity]

one more thing. legalize marijuana or don't punish people for using or growing.

[Rancher]

reverse any global governance aspects of "smart growth", "sustainable development", Agenda 21 type programs

lynn

This^ and eliminate property taxes.

[free1]

Drag the sheriffs in by their collars and make them sign the oath keepers pledge or loose their job....

-t

Make sure in school that kids learn that the Sheriff is an elected position and is not controlled at the whim of county politicians.

Then I would announce that there is no LAND tax and never has been. And tell people how to un-register their LAND as "property" so the tax stops.

Yes, each one of you could do this yourself, you could fix government by just not being so stupid and signing things that are put in front of you by slimy government lawyers.

[speciallyblend]

Kevin Cannell for County Seat Lake County. we are closer then you think;)

[Noob]

Try to trun the County into a free independent Republic from the federal goverment.

[fisharmor]

Here's what I'd try to do (and fail, because it's all "crazy talk").

1) Eliminate property taxes.
2) Eliminate zoning laws.
3) Auction off public schools, and donate the proceeds to private scholarship funds.
4) Sell all military equipment owned by the police, and make them carry revolvers again, or make them go unarmed.
5) Eliminate building code mandates.
6) Haven't put a lot of thought into it, but at that point the next thing in my crosshair would be the utility companies.

[james1906]

Matt needs to take a picture with said government official first.

[TonySutton]

6) Haven't put a lot of thought into it, but at that point the next thing in my crosshair would be the utility companies.

When I lived in coastal North Carolina, our electricity was supplied by a coop. We would get rebate checks every so often because their costs (fuel) would come in lower than expected.

[Elwar]

It's still a political position and he will be one of several. His first term will probably mainly be spent voting "No" a lot. Tell him not to faulter on that. He might get some warm and fuzzies when someone proposes a handicap accessable park that caters to the blind and has programs for the poor, but he needs to stick to his guns and vote "No". Just surviving with so many "No" votes will be difficult politically "councilman X hates blind children!" etc..

I'd say prioritize on 2-3 pieces of legislation that move things in the right direction during his first term. First one should be eliminating the pensions of all future city councilmen starting with his own pension. That takes guts but it proves a lot. Push for the elimination of the lowest hanging fruit in the county. And push for lowering spending as opposed to just balancing the budget, with remaining dollars going back to the tax payers (or the rainy day fund, whichever is viable).

After he's proven himself his first term and he survives re-election, then he can start getting more aggressive and look toward putting people into the other council seats that would support smaller government.

His ultimate goal should be privatizing as much as he can, except perhaps the police and judicial system.

[ChaosControl]

Most likely nothing that would be liked here since I think local government is acceptable and can be used for good. I'm not really anti-government, just anti-central/anti-corrupt government. I'd use it as best I could to shape my preferred society.

So hey, stop on by if you ever want to step into the 50s :P

[RCA]

No more property taxes!!!

[Matt Collins]

It's a small rural county, and yes the person will be reading this thread so keep coming up with the ideas.

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

Have the Sheriff's department forcibly disband all city police units in the county, starting with the local SWAT goons. If ya need a SWAT team, that's why there is supposed to be a Militia/State Guard. End the illegal and pointless war on drugs and prostitution in the county. Instead have the Sheriff's vice units concentrate on real heinous shit like human trafficking/slavery.

[Travlyr]

County wide zoning laws restrict business activity. Some zoning laws likely work well, but zoning laws for cities & towns should be different than in the country.

For example, an auto body and paint shop in town shouldn't be in a residential neighborhood, but somebody outside of city limits could have an auto body shop near his home.

[South Park Fan]

Refuse to crack down on anyone for tax evasion and privatize all services.

[ninepointfive]

Then I would announce that there is no LAND tax and never has been. And tell people how to un-register their LAND as "property" so the tax stops.

Yes, each one of you could do this yourself, you could fix government by just not being so stupid and signing things that are put in front of you by slimy government lawyers.

Do explain!

[paulpwns]

Enable school choice with vouchers.
Decriminalize drugs.
Legalize gambling.
Decriminalize prostitution.
Privatize, privatize, privatize....

[RPgrassrootsactivist]

Drag the sheriffs in by their collars and make them sign the oath keepers pledge or loose their job....

-t

In almost all jurisdictions, sheriffs are elected and thus they don't have any superior who can tell them what to do.

What this new county leader should do is work with the sheriff, D.A., county attorney, etc. to scale back oppressive government and implement de facto nullification and interposition to the fullest extent possible as allowed under state law. Where you don't have the legal authority to act on your own, use the influence of your position on the state legislature and governor to get them to do something. Read Sheriff Mack's The County Sheriff and Tom Woods' Nullification for more information.

http://www.sheriffmack.com/

http://www.thomasewoods.com/learn-about-state-nullification/


If state law permits, you may wish to consider trying to get a policy like this one passed in your county: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=239738

Also, if the county uses electronic voting machines, then do whatever you can to ban them and implement a system of hand-marked paper ballots. See http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd483.htm

Work with other county leaders in your state. Band together with as many of them as possible so you can stand as one in matters such as nullification and election transparency.

[Matt Collins]

I found this to be fascinating:

Local Problems, Libertarian Solutions
http://www.amatecon.com/etext/lpls/lpls.html

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

This is a position I will find myself in soon as well.
FIRE the county planner. If you must have one, make sure that he is from the area and NOT a member of the AICP.
Until all of the other reforms can take effect and work their magic, bring back the poor farm. Instead of taking tax dollars and giving it to people to persist in a bad situation, save a ton of money and empower the poor to take care of themselves by allowing them to be subsistence farmers. If the county must own the poor farm property, it would still be many times cheaper than the silly welfare programs that most counties use.

When taking bids for infrastructure improvements, prefer the local bid over an out of area bid--even if it is a little higher. The key to a healthy local economy is keeping as much money as possible local. Also, there is a sort of guarantee if a contractor is working on infrastructure that he will be using himself.

Get the ball rolling on volunteerism by accepting alternative payment of taxes. For example: instead of taking money from a beef farmer and then giving grocery vouchers to the poor, allow the farmer to donate a side of beef to the poor farm. Eventually, people will realize that they don't need the government to take care of them as they have been taking care of each other much more efficiently.

Encourage conservation. For example; my county will be spending $30,000 of an $80,000 upgrade to a dam to allow for a slightly larger capacity for a projected 100 year flood. More benefit could be gained by encouraging farmers in the watershed to plant buffer strips and retention ponds on their own property. The cost would be minimal and the primary beneficiaries would be the farmers, and the dam would not have to be upgraded.

PROPERTY RIGHTS! No matter what the state says, the county is the last hope for land owners to protect their land from senseless land grabs as well as intrusive developments. Everyone has the right to quiet enjoyment of his property without limit as long as he does not infringe on his neighbors' rights to quiet enjoyment of theirs.

[Travlyr]

I found this to be fascinating:

Local Problems, Libertarian Solutions
http://www.amatecon.com/etext/lpls/lpls.html

That is a good find. :cool:

What about making the county meetings more accessible? Like letting county residents subscribe to email updates on meetings and plans.