Cities distracted by federal issues

By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, August 16, 2006 8:17 PM PDT ∞

So maybe Tip O'Neill was wrong: Perhaps all politics isn't local after all.

This election cycle in Vista, many of the candidates for mayor and two City Council seats seem much more interested in talking about an issue that resides at the national and international level than they are fixing potholes, removing graffiti or addressing any of the other myriad issues that generally occupy municipal officeholders.

It was O'Neill, the longtime speaker of the House of Representatives, who declared that "all politics is local," that even members of Congress have to pay attention to what's happening at the city or neighborhood level.

Yet in Vista, it seems all politics is national, as illegal immigration is the most prominent issue being bandied about in the City Council races.

While the unchecked flow of illegal immigrants across the nearby border with Mexico surely does have local implications, the Vista City Council has absolutely no role to play in creating or enforcing federal immigration law.

Now, you might not know that from the hullabaloo in Vista when the city recently passed a law regulating day-labor agreements. Activists on both sides latched onto that rather mild bit of legislation, portraying it as if it were either America's salvation from the invading hordes or a vile descent into barbarism.

And, yes, that whole dust-up does rather illustrate O'Neill's argument.

But if Congress ought to be paying better attention to how its immigration policies affect local communities (particularly those back in each member of Congress' home district), it would be a bit more reassuring to see our local candidates pay attention to what needs fixing in Vista.

Instead of posturing about an emotional issue, tell us how you intend to make our community safer. What are your funding priorities when there are more demands on the city than the budget has money to fix? Are there ways of addressing issues like juvenile delinquency or urban blight that don't take a lot of money? How can we improve the community with elbow grease and a can-do attitude?

That last point, it seems to me, illustrates the most important role of a local elected official: that of civic cheerleader, to take the lead in getting residents to feel good about their community and their neighbors and to act on it.

People who like their community are going to be more willing to invest in it ---- to stand up and help keep graffiti out, keep an eye out for their neighbors, to improve the city in the thousand imperceptible ways that add up to the difference between a blighted area and a revitalized neighborhood.

It's hard to do that when your campaign platform consists largely of complaining that too many of our neighbors look suspicious.

So given the fact that the city can't fix illegal immigration, and that fixating on it is divisive, why is this issue front and center?

It's hard to avoid the suspicion that those harping loudest about illegal immigration while running for city office are those who have the least to offer voters on a substantive level.

-- Contact staff writer Jim Trageser at (760) 631-6628 or jtrageser@nctimes.com.

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