Two weeks ago, 350 people crammed into Hillsboro’s city council chambers, many of them loudly demanding that Hillsboro declare itself a sanctuary city. The Hillsboro Tribune’s Travis Loose called it “mayhem,” you can watch the meeting yourself and decide what you’d like to call it. Last night’s meeting did not have that kind of attendance: most of the seats in the Shirley Huffman Auditorium were empty. But city officials made preparations, just in case. There was a significant police presence in the atrium before the meeting, and everyone who attended was handed a piece of paper explaining that the vote on the matter is taking place on March 7. Mayor Steve Callaway repeated the point. “We will not be deliberating about[…]
I spent the first year of my career covering local politics in Peace River, Alberta, a small town of 6,000 five hours north of Edmonton. It was a formative experience for me, and since moving to the states I’ve told everyone who will listen that local politics is the antidote to feeling jaded about the political process. Local politics is where the decisions that affect you most are made, and it’s also where you have the most potential influence. Sadly, the latest national drama has a tendency of drowning out local issues. I know it did for me, particularly in 2016. I’ve told people to care about local politics for years, but if I’m honest I’ve rarely put much thought[…]