Geography creates barriers when trying to become involved

A recent report released by the Tax Foundation, watchdogs for the American taxpayer, indicates Idaho residents bear the 13th highest state tax burden in the nation, despite one of the lowest per-capita income rates in the country.

When I hear news like this, it makes me want to become more involved in government. I get tired of learning too late about new taxes and new laws, updated codes and the latest in governmental balderdash. Through the years, however, I’ve discovered that living on the wrong side of the tracks doesn’t help when one gets concerned with governing powers.

Whether it’s basic geography or an imaginary line, I have always found a barrier between me and government. First of all, I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest my entire life. That means I live nearly 2,500 miles away from the center of our national government and access to the nation’s capital with its monuments, museums, archives and buildings. Thus, my access to our federal government has been limited by geographical distance and my lack of frequent flier miles.

I haven’t fared any better with state government. I lived in Eastern Washington for the majority of my life, moving to North Idaho in 2001. When it comes to governmental representation, Eastern Washington might as well be in Upper Ramsbottom (Lancashire, England) as far as the trés chic Olympians and Seattleites are concerned. It’s tougher to get money to fund Eastern Washington projects than it is to talk an Idaho hunter into staying home for an anniversary dinner during hunting season.

Then, there is local government. I lived most of my adult life in the Spokane Valley. I lived in Veradale, which was merely a post office designation. There was no city center and no government. I once wrote a poem titled “Where the Hell is Veradale,” protesting the fact that I lived in a community that didn’t actually exist.

All decisions for my community were made by three county commissioners representing a couple of hundred thousand people spread over 1,700 square miles. There wasn’t much discussion about issues and what did take place occurred in downtown Spokane at the county courthouse – again, not very handy.

So, I actually got excited when the idea of incorporation came up, and even helped work on the official Incorporation Study. I was thrilled to think I would finally have access to a local governing body. Then, a few months before the positive vote to incorporate, we moved – to North Idaho.

It took a while for it to sink in that I still lived on the wrong side of the tracks. In one smooth move, I traded East-to-West bias for South-to-North disdain. No longer were those urban Seattleites defining my future – now it’s that majority down in Boise. While I found this fact discouraging, I consoled myself that I lived a mere 1.45 miles from Rathdrum’s City Hall and still had the chance to at least get involved in city government. I jumped right in. I landed in quicksand.

My new home, I was soon informed, was outside of the city limits. Once again, I was foiled by basic geography – the city has no plans to extend up the hill to my home – back to unfocused county government for me. I swallowed my disappointment and went to work for my community anyway, joining committees, attending council meetings and getting involved.

What I discovered was that hard work could not change my lack of official status in my community. At the end of three years, I was given what my mother used to call a back-handed compliment from a city employee. “Thank you Mary Jane,” he said as I stood before him with a broad smile, “for all the hard work you’ve given to a community you don’t even live in.” My smile vanished.

I guess I’ll just e-mail my state legislators about the disparity between our taxes and income; maybe they’ll consider voting to drop the grocery tax. If you would like to join me, find out who your elected officials are at idaho.gov or votesmart.org.