During the July 6 Bossier City Council meeting, Shreveport-Bossier Tea Party (SBTP) member Evodna Springer spoke briefly to council members concerning the public’s accessibility to council meetings and records of those meetings.  Springer is a founding member of the local Tea Party.

In part, Springer’s comments included the core principles of the SBTP, which are:  “limited constitutional government, accountable representation from elected officials, and fostering an increase in citizen involvement in every level of public policy, with particular emphasis on state and local public policy.”

But a suggestion concerning those principles:  reword them to include active verbs and rank them by priority.  
The first principle should be increased citizen involvement at every level of government, particularly in local and state government.  The closest government to local citizens is, of course, local government.  It has the greatest impact on our everyday lives – from the provision of public safety, to water and sewer, to the roads we travel daily, to zoning – you name it, local government is usually a part of it.  

The elected representatives of local government are our neighbors and sometimes our friends.  They are immediately accessible for our concerns, our carps, and occasionally our opposition to local public policy.  But these local leaders don’t operate in a vacuum – their powers, duties, and limits are enumerated in governing documents or statutes.  If we don’t practice a little remedial civics by acquiring and reading a city charter or the statutes governing the local parish governments, we are remiss as citizens.

Next, and armed with information about the structure and responsibilities of local government, it’s critical to follow the course of the governmental conversation.  And that’s a continuing conversation found in ordinances, minutes, and contact with local representatives.

The second principle naturally follows – if one is informed about his or her government and follows that governmental entities continuing conversation, it’s far easier to hold the elected representatives (and appointees) accountable for their actions.  And it’s just a whole to easier to slow or stop questionable actions by these electees.

The advent of electronic communication has made it much easier to follow those elected to federal government – and we do.  It also makes it easier to communicate with these elected representatives, but to our distinct disadvantage, most of us seldom take seriously the need to communicate concerns, outrages, or even approval to our federal representatives about Congressional actions and legislation.

Imagine the result if we actually and consistently employed that “of the people, by the people, and for the people” ideal.  

Finally, the third principle – limited constitutional government at all levels – actually becomes possible if we understand that we are the limiters (or, has been the case in the recent past, the enablers).       

One doesn’t have to be a Tea Party member to help advance what should be the civic goal for each of us – particularly those who of us most interested in eliminating a past of enabling, by the absence of our voices, in particular a federal government in desperate need of limitations.    


Marty Carlson is a columnist for the Bossier Press-Tribune and has been covering local issues for more than 10 years. She may be reached via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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