Seeking Advice: How To Save a Town From Going to Hell

Okay, so. Anyone who knows the littlest bit about where I live only knows such from hearing me bitch about it, suffice it to say I don't much like it here, but that's not what this thread is about.

Basically, there are some large-scale changes in our town that are causing problems, large problems. In order, these are the following:

1. The School District: The local schoolboard has cut ten out of 24 teachers in my high school alone. Along with this, all elective classes and honors courses are being cut. The school board is currently deliberating on whether or not to cut more teachers. If they do that (which, knowing the local schoolboard, they will) our school district simply won't survive. This town has education problems as it is, merging us with the town up north won't solve them. We currently have some of the highest dropout rates in the state, and a massive drug problem (I don't care what one's stances on drugs are, I support liberalization of drug policy too, but going to school stoned out of your mind is just not okay) and an emerging gang problem (a group calling themselves Bloods have set up shop somewhere in town recently. They're selling the drugs to the junkies while committing various violent crimes.) I can tell you right now they're not "real" Bloods, since they're white, and as far as I know, the Bloods are a black-exclusive gang. But that doesn't change the problem, speaking of which....
2. The Sounds of tha Police....both of them: Our town literally has two active duty officers at any given time. They also both have very well-known and predictable patrol routes, in other words, they don't really stop any crimes that aren't speeding. The reason for this is the town government's refusal of further funds for the police department, which leads me to problem number three,
3. Mayor making a power grab? Who gives a damn?: Not us, apparently. This town has had the same mayor for over a decade, his corruption is well-known, but until now he hasn't really done anything bad, which has allowed him to place his puppets in office pretty much everywhere in town. Almost all town officials are related to the guy, and he's running a candidate for magisterial judge which will let him have the local court system on lock too. The worst part? No one is running against him in the upcoming mayoral election. Likewise his candidate and the judicial election. What we have is essentially a small-scale political machine that no one even seems to notice, much less care about. Did I mention he switched from the Republican ticket to the local Tea Party branch? Yeaaaaaaaah. All politicians make promises they can't keep, but this guy basically likes to pander to the elderly, highly conservative majority in the town's voting population. Last year, when he actually ran against someone, he ran by promising to impeach Obama, and he won.

Suffice it to say, my town is screwed.

My question to you is, as a 17 year old high school student, is there anything about any of this that I can do?

You could leave and let it collapse.

True capitalist morals. Don't be like a communist: don't help your fellow man.

edited 11th May '11 3:15:56 PM by AllanAssiduity

Leaving isn't much of an option for another three years at least. I do not want to be around when this place turns into mini-Center City Allentown. Even if it were, I have three younger siblings and a pair of aging parents who are be going to spend another decade at least here, I don't want anything happening to them either.

Make plans to move in a year?

I suppose you could try to change the system, but I can't say it would be a prudent choice.

*shrug*

It sounds like the town's voters are idiots, and thus you cannot remove the corrupt mayor from power. I highly doubt the school will listen to you (whether you be student or interested member of the public) and I doubt you can join the police force, given that they can't really expand it.

Like I said, that's not an option.

I was wondering if there was some kind of law against the kind of political monopoly Mayor Doll has on the town, I'm not really the best with that kind of thing.

I tried Google, but it failed me.

Can you appeal to a higher power? Sure, if you can find one interested in your local problems. Then it's just a matter of catching them doing something wrong, such as happened in Bell California.

Other than that, does your state have a recall option? Is there any other route to power?

If they hold elections, I doubt you can go against the will of the people as they continuously elect an incompetent, corrupt and possibly ugly dullard.

edited 11th May '11 3:23:57 PM by AllanAssiduity

Write an (anonymous) article about it and try to get it published.

(Only half-joking.)

I see.

edited 11th May '11 3:28:31 PM by StrangeDwarf

^I wouldn't be the first to do such. I've seen several in the local papers signed "A Concerned Citizen" in several cases and "Anon Muss" in another. I'm not sure how much influence the paper has up here.

For the first, I'm not sure. I'll go check quick.

For the second, our town is very....traditional? I guess, almost all the local political power lies with the mayor (Doll) and the town council (his cronies).

It's not the will of the people, though. It's the will of an aging majority. Opposition certainly exists, especially with people of my age, but we're not old enough to vote, much less run.

To put it in simple terms, it's a bit like this:

People move to Palmerton, my town, which is small, quiet, conservative, ethnically homogenous, and out of the way, to get away from Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, etc. which are large, busy, noisy, mostly liberal, and full of immigrants. Now normally, I could care less about some urbanization, but I do care about the influx of crime, and while Mayor Doll sits on his ass in his mansion, increasing amounts of young people are dying; mostly from drug overdose and car accidents (guess what kind, go ahead) and most recently, violence has started to factor into the equation. I don't much care about the rest of it, but I would like to try to keep my town from going to hell by way of drug dealers and murderers. Which is what will happen if Doll doesn't expand the police force, which he has already made clear he will not do.

This matters to me, but not to the voting majority, who are—by and large—elderly and extremely conservative. They don't care because they're not caught in the encroaching gang culture, and they're not affected by it, or in some cases, they just don't know.

edited 11th May '11 3:34:38 PM by SpainSun

You could talk to others you know, to see if you can find a group that agree with you and are willing to try to change things. Once you've got a group of like-minded people, you can:

• send letters to the school board and others in power to do stuff - one letter will probably be ignored but many letters from different people might get their attention

• talk to the media (not just the town paper, a bigger news source like state news) to put more pressure on the people in power, because they won't want bad publicity

• set up volunteer activities to fill the holes in place - for example, maybe you could raise money to buy school supplies, or set up a branch of AA, or something

Changing this kind of issue isn't quick or easy or safe, but it can be done.

edited 11th May '11 3:29:58 PM by Ettina

How's your newspaper? Strange Dwarf might be onto something, a few well written editorials might at least convince people there is a problem, if not fix it.

Heck, just send in the OP with the potholes explained, it'll make somebody sit up and take notice.

Also: You're 17? Woah, I thought you were at least a year or two older than I was.

We've tried this, unfortunately, making an official group isn't possible. Since you need a permit to set such things up, and guess who controls the permit office?

We've been meeting—pardon the term, as it sounds corny—underground at a friend's house, but without official recognition we can do very little, legally.

edited 11th May '11 3:35:57 PM by SpainSun

If you're really determined, rally together some like minded people, and try to go for the position itself. Get groups together and start letter writing to anyone who will listen, maximising your signatories. Try to get a town-wide movement towards reform going.

If you're really determined to make a difference. If not, I'd suggest moving; it sounds like a bad place to be in the world right now.

^Sounds like democracy has collapsed then. Or at least the protest part of it. Cut your losses and leave.

edited 11th May '11 3:39:54 PM by GameChainsaw

Join the Army for a tour as the 11X MOS, then come back and clean up the town?

Or become a professional wrestler and then come back and clean up the town, depending on which version you prefer.

edited 11th May '11 3:41:28 PM by Barkey

^I lol'd. I shouldn't have, but you guys have no idea how much I hate our mayor. Just...no idea at all.

We staged a protest (initially billed as a silent one, it turned into pretty much the polar opposite of that) last week outside a closed schoolboard meeting. That gave me some hope, because the schoolboard members were unable to continue their meeting, and it was rescheduled—open this time—for the following Thursday (which is tomorrow).

So we've made...some process. We've started calling ourselves Zinc Workers Against Mayor Bradley (it's a local in-joke) but the 'movement' has only been around a few months, so it's hard to gauge whether or not it will last.

edited 11th May '11 3:43:28 PM by SpainSun

^Well, keep going with it. Sometimes what makes the different between a small group of people with placards and a massive government-shifting movement is persisting until people start taking notice. Spread those connections; and make use of Facebook! The Arab Spring can teach valuable lessons!

Step one: Make sure you are living in a movie

Step two: Find out how and where citizens can get involved with the goverment proceeding on issues

Step three: Deal with various issues in complicated and dramatic ways. Make and break friendships as you try to figure out the meaning behind it all. [This step is also known as ???]

Step four: At the oppertune moment, deliver a rousing speech that displays your points and clearly proves the follies of the opposing side. Make sure that you maintain proper diction and get more confident as you go, ending by raising your volume on an emotional statement that summarizes your point and is easy to qoute.

Step five: If the previous step is accomplished correctly the previously apathetic, even bitter, crowd will be swayed over to your now sympathetic argument and break into applause. If you are really lucky, the opposing side will join them or maybe just look upset. Now there are two outcomes:

A) An important decision will be made in favour of your position

B) The outcome is the same, or perhaps only marginally different than if you did nothing. The opposing side has won but by bringing your position and fighting for it you have brought the issue to light and gained the support of the people. The outcome is bittersweet but ultimately you have achieved sucess. [This whole step, regardless of outcome, is also known as "Profit"]

OPTIONAL:

Step 6: 2-3 decades later, make an exaggerated movie version of your plight. [This step is also known as "Profit"]

edited 11th May '11 3:50:40 PM by Sark

Best you can do is get the word out there and publicly protest as much as possible. Hope that the school board tries to retaliate in a manner that you can report them for, then call the US Department of Education, Inspector Generals Office, or your State Inspector Generals Office(your state should have one)

If you launch an IG complaint then that office is obligated by their policies to investigate it to a conclusion. I'm not saying that'll fix your other problems, or even that the IG will do a whole lot towards fixing the funding issues with your school. The point of doing that is to bring notice and concern to the sad state of your school district, and by extension the rest of your city, to state and federal officials. An IG complaint puts your district under the microscope for a bit.

As for the police thing, become a reserve deputy/officer if they have that program and if you are old enough. Encourage friends to do so who also want to help clean up the town. This will free up manpower so your small complement of officers can get out there and cover more ground or possibly patrol more dangerous parts of your town that they would rather not go into alone.

As for your mayor? If you have any concrete evidence of corruption, not necessarily the type of thing you could call the cops on him for, but the type of thing that looks very suspicious and should be investigated by proper authorities, you need to collect as much evidence as possible, find someone respectable in society who you know isn't part of that issue(such as a school teacher, or better, one of the fired schoolteachers if you know one) and have them perform an IG complaint. An IG complaint on the mayor of a town from a 17 year old high school student, or even on behalf of a group of 17 year old high school students, really isn't worth dick realistically. It won't be taken seriously.

edited 11th May '11 3:56:34 PM by Barkey

Is your Mayor Professor Umbridge?

Get a rifle?

It seems like your town is just pretty crappy and going down hill from here. I really doubt there's anything you can do, and you'll probably be leaving in a year or two. I think the only real change is bringing some sort of industry, but you know how practical doing that is.

And lol at teenagers who theorize about drug liberalization policies but are judgmental at actual drug users. (This includes me too, of course)

Strange Dwarf: It would not surprise me.

Barkey: Interesting.

I'll bring it up at the next meeting. Something is better than nothing.

How much can they actually do to you if you organize without a permit? This sounds like a violation of freedom of petition.

Also food for thought Spain, does the Mayor have any competition? Is there someone who should, beyond a shadow of a doubt, be in his position? One reason these sort of people stay in office as mayor for so long is simply because nobody else tends to want the job. Especially true of poor communities.

If there's a worthwhile competitor, get your friends together and help campaign for him.

edited 11th May '11 4:00:24 PM by Barkey