I firmly believe that we agree on more issues than not – especially here in Folsom. Accountability for our officials? Absolutely. Keeping the power in the hands of our local communities? No question. Allowing us to have a say in our day-to-day lives? Sign me up.
Which is why I believe this new era of political tribalism will ultimately be the end of our local communities as we know it – including our beloved Folsom – if we allow it. This will be due to the decline of intellectual honesty, the desensitization to hypocrisy and the dilution of the independent voice we have here in Folsom.
We have allowed political tribalism to overshadow very glaring issues within our own parties, our own leadership and our own states. This is happening across the country, but as a born and raised California resident, a Bay Area transplant to Folsom, and a decade-long strategist on Sacramento policy making — I only speak of what I know firsthand.
When you bring sound policy making to your own learned experience, one will tell you that your local and regional politics will affect your life more than any policy any other entity can make. As we move past the headlines and the Tik Tok videos, anyone who works or truly participates in the public policy space will tell you that local decisions are critical to our day-to-day lives. They affect our ability to keep our families safe, to get people the help they need and keep our communities a place where we want to live, run a business, raise a family and retire.
Folsom is one of the top destinations in California to move into and for good reason. We are safe, we take care of each other and have one of the most desired destination cities in the region. Which boggles my mind that so many of my community members allow political tribalism and hate for our president to circumvent the intellectual honesty of why they chose this area over downtown Sacramento, Citrus Heights, or West Sacramento. People chose this city for its quality of life, yet in the same turn are fighting to change it.
Political tribalism has also resulted in Californians turning a blind eye to state politicians’ hypocrisy. In 2020, our residents overwhelmingly stayed silent when our state told us we had to close our businesses, couldn’t go to church and couldn’t even be with our loved ones on their deathbeds – all the while our Governor dined with medical lobbyists at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant, sent his children to private in-person school and continued getting a paycheck while keeping his winery open.
Political tribalism will always present a proverbial boogeyman somewhere in the distance so we ignore the very real issues here at home. Coming to a town near you, the state is forcing local communities to burden their failed policies by placing homeless shelters in town centers, popping up affordable housing structures in small towns with zero infrastructure, while creating exemptions for rich communities like Marin County. Our politicians are changing the landscape of our local communities, while exempting their own neighborhoods. Their policy-making is elitist, careless and not their problem because it does not affect them.
Political tribalism gives both parties political cover for their inconsistencies. In California – residents, journalists and policy professionals are met with non-disclosure agreements and the Legislature exempting themselves from their own Public Records Act, Brown Act and more – making it near impossible to keep our state politicians accountable.
This brings us to the current topic du jour – Proposition 50. We are unique in Folsom – we are politically diverse with a firm, yet kind commitment to a good quality of life – and Prop 50 is set to change our district substantially. Every new map across the state is attempting to wipe out all rural and middle-class communities by drawing in big city politics into all the areas throughout the state – ours included. That is why the Libertarian Party, non-partisan think tanks and now turned Independent Arnold Schwarzenegger oppose this measure. When it comes to the topic of politician tribalism — this measure is a lose-lose for all California voters who chose policy over party.
In Folsom, other party or decline to state voters make up approximately 30% of the electorate – making them the deciding factor in any major policy decision. Political tribalism denies voters who chose policy over politics a seat at the table. And in California, we need independent voices now more than ever before.
Stephanie F. Herrera is a current Folsom resident and contributes commentary to Folsom Times. She has over 15 years of service in local, state and federal public policy sectors
The above commentary was authored by l Stephanie Herrera and submitted to Folsom Times. The views and opinions expressed in community commentary submissions are that of the authors and do not reflect the views and opinions of Folsom Times, its management, staff, stakeholders or advertisers.
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