Recreation
Race Relations"Politics is really what's killing us."
- Community Member
The theme "Politics and the People" refers to the community's perception of local government and the government's involvement with the people. This section includes a brief description of the structure of town and county government. Service providers were asked directly about the community's political climate. The community members' perspective emerged from discussion related to how change in the community should occur.
An elected board of commissioners and a county manager, who reports directly to the board, govern Warren County. The board of County Commissioners is comprised of one Native American, two African American and two White men. The county manager is an African American woman. Given a county population that is approximately 40% White, this is fairly representative of the county's racial make-up. The board of commissioners has an open meeting the first Monday of every month at which citizens may speak on any topic for five minutes. Community members with specific requests may ask to be included on the agenda for the meeting. People who support or oppose the proposition then have the opportunity to speak during the five-minute comment time.
The town of Warrenton has seven city councilors, a mayor, and a city manager who handles day-to-day business. The municipal population of fewer than 1000 people does not produce large amounts of tax revenue to fund local services. Therefore, most services are provided at the county level. Because of low income and property values, taxes in the county are also high in order to produce adequate revenue.
Focus group participants generally agree that community members should be more vocal about their needs at commissioners' meetings, town councils, and in front of other leaders. Interviewees feel that people need to take a stand and not be afraid to voice their concerns. "If we let the county commissioners dictate our every move, we have no one to blame but ourselves." "The county commissioners are running our county and no one is at the meetings to voice their opinions."
Clearly, some community members feel people need to take responsibility for informing the commissioners about their needs, but others feel that the commissioners should request more input from residents before making decisions. "They should poll the people to find out what they want, before they tax them." People adamantly stated that the county commissioners really do not know what is important to the community, and many community members believe they do not want to know. Additionally, animosity toward what are seen as unsympathetic, elected officials was expressed frequently. "What the county commissioners think the people need and what the people think are at odds." "It's their little group and they make the decision." People want to "see where your taxes are actually going because right now, we don't see."
On certain issues, community members feel the county is in tune with the residents' needs. For example, some residents want to see minimum housing standards and zoning regulations established, but the commissioners are not addressing these issues. Regarding community input, many people do not feel that the county government is receptive to suggestions or proposals by community members. "They've closed what little bit of [recreational outlets for young people] they did used to have." An example of the county's priorities differing from those of many community members is the county's emphasis on programs for senior citizens. One older person remarked "the young people are falling through the cracks, not us."
There was some discussion about who's interests are considered when making decisions for the community. One interviewee suggested that if recreation, transportation and industry existed, the power-holders would have to share their power with the community; therefore, they do not bring these things into the community. Some groups want to present Warrenton as an historic town in an attempt to draw tourists but most focus group participants did not regard that as a viable economic development route for the community.
Community members brought up a variety of barriers to action in the community. First, community members felt that some of the groups that expected to be most supportive often let them down. "Our churches who are supposed to be [role models] are afraid to tackle [problems] because they might get a little dirt[y]." Second, people want to take credit for successes rather than putting effort into sustaining projects. They feel things get swept under the rug when people are forced to share power. Rather than share, they just stop the whole project. Third, one community member said people are blocked by county commissioners when they apply for grants.
People are concerned about the lack of effective homegrown leadership. "We need to develop our leaders. We need new options for leaders. We need to maintain the momentum throughout the year of what we have right around election time. We have the same problems every year and they aren't getting solved. We have only to blame ourselves for this." Community members are looking for leaders who will listen to and work with them. They want someone who will "be a doer rather than just talking about [issues]." They feel ignored by people they elected to power. "People who sit in high places should look downward and be willing to help Warren County grow."
Compared to community members, services providers offered little information or opinion about politics and power in Warrenton and Warren County. They indicated people pay more attention to county level politics than municipal politics. This is probably because there are "things that county government can provide that small town government just can't afford to do." One service provider pointed out that people are not taking local government positions for the money; they are taking them because they care about the community. Several service providers said services cannot expand because the municipal tax-base is so small. Even hiring a police officer would require a significant tax hike. "One penny of tax doesn't bring in but $3800. If we needed an 8th police officer, you're talking about raising taxes at least a nickel just to hire one person."
One major difference between community members and service provider perspectives concerns taxes. While community members are frustrated with the high tax rate, government service providers are frustrated with the tax base that does not bring in enough money to provide adequate services. In addition, community members did not think the county would be willing to work with them, while service providers often listed county government as a potential collaborator . Overall, there appears to be a disconnect between elected officials and the people they represent, as well as a disconnect about who elected officials serve.
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