Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve in PA
Taxes are put into a pool and used to run the municipality. Just because I pay taxes to WB, doesn't mean I can go out and tell the street dept how to clean or repair the streets..........doesn't mean I can tell the parks dept how to cut grass or maintain the parks.............doesn't mean I can tell the fire dept how to put out a fire. I am not their employer.
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No, but you can fire their bosses, the town council. You get enough people together that agree someone is doing a bad job and you can take the council and run the municipality, hiring and firing whom you want.
Its important to remember that sovereignty in this country rests with the individual. Political organizations and bureaucracies that administrate derive their power from the consent of the governed, not from anywhere else. Is it a little more difficult than just walking up to some random pot-hole-filler and firing him cause you think hes doing a crap job? Yes...but it should be. Make no mistake however. If you make the claim that police (fire departments and ambulances are frequently independent contractors in PA and operate under a different set of rules) work for the municipality and not the people, you'd be right. Police work for the municipality and the people in the municipality work for the voters. That dilutes greatly the effect that one person may have but if an officer screws up royally, outrages the voters and the chief won't fire him...I'd expect that chief and officer to be looking for a new job rather quickly once pressure is brought to bear on the mayor and council.