The most striking thing about the results of last week’s voting on local issues is the clarity with which the voters spoke. Outside of one school board race, nothing was particularly close. The voters knew what they wanted and said so: good government, a focus on local issues and, above all, to be heard.
The school board election was a special case. It presented a difficult situation in that there were simply more good candidates than there were open seats. That can make choosing hard, but we can only wish voters faced that problem in every election.
With local ballot issues the voters felt no such challenge. On the most contentious issue, the 10-cent fee on disposable grocery bags enacted by the City Council, the result was clear. City residents repealed the ordinance by a vote of 56 percent to 44 percent.
Several messages can be fairly read into that result. One would be the idea that Durango voters would prefer the City Council to forgo symbolism and reforming the world and instead focus on more basic municipal functions. Potholes come to mind.
Another is that the council’s bag fee came across as high-handed and representative only of a vocal minority. That view was perhaps borne out by the lopsided vote.
Still another is that while a great many regulations or charges are either distant or infrequent, the bag fee seemed immediate and personal. With it, the council got right in the voters faces and the voters returned the favor.
That may be the most lasting – and perhaps most interesting – result of this election. Having had a taste of direct democracy, will Durango voters want more of it? Why not? What is an often dangerous practice statewide, especially in that it too often involves amending the Constitution, could be much more useful on a local level. Durango may style itself a city, but it is in many ways a small town. There is nothing wrong with the idea that its residents should have a say in how it is run. So, what else might we vote on?
In response to Tuesday’s vote, several supporters of the bag fee vowed to revisit the effort to reduce such waste. Fair enough, particularly in that one added a caveat to the effect that, “It’s how we go about it.”
A voluntary educational campaign to encourage the use of reusable bags would address all the same environmental concerns as the bag fee without the intrusive feel. A little marketing and a positive tie to tourism could go a long way.
In the other local issues of broad concern, voters in Durango and the Animas and Hermosa fire-protection districts resoundingly approved (by 84 percent and 66 percent, respectively) a multi-faceted plan to sort out the way we provide for and fund fire protection and emergency services.
That success represents several factors. The fire district’s backers listened and understood when previous plans were voted down. Then they came back with a plan that effectively addressed the concerns that caused voters to reject the earlier efforts – and they took the time and worked hard to explain it.
What followed refuted the condescending thinking that voters cannot handle complexity.
Complicated schemes involving money are easy to attack and difficult to sell. And the fire district plan had more than a few moving parts, too many acronyms, quite a bit of history and some unfortunate internal politics.
But the voters saw past all that and embraced a solution that should ensure quality fire protection and emergency services for years to come. It was good work by all concerned.
