Assignment Task:
For this week's reading, chapter 4 was very interesting for me. The fact that State and County governments function similarly to the Federal government but on a smaller scale resonates with me the most. As mentioned in the book, just as the President has executive powers at the national level, state governors and county officials have similar powers within their jurisdictions. They are responsible for enforcing laws, managing public services, and making decisions with authorities being limited to state or county levels.
Another section that caught my attention was the fact that "The elected officials of county government have a bewildering array of titles. According to Dade County, Florida, Commissioner Harvey Ruvin, quoted in 1987, county officials "are supervisors in California, judges in Texas, jurors in Louisiana"(Shafritz, Russell, Borick, Hyde, 2023, 137)
Towns and special districts are another section that resonates with me since I am familiar with it. Los Angeles County Supervisors are each representing one of the five districts within the Los Angeles County, and each supervisor is overseeing their respective district making decisions for local policies, budgets, and public services. One of the responsibilities of my department as a Commission services is to coordinate meetings for consolidated oversight Boards which consists of Commissioners on each Board to overcome the needs of Successor agencies in each district and allocate Budgets to each City based on their needs and city operations. As explained in the book, each district oversees different cities, and they have different commissions to stay on track with City needs and overcome their community problems.
Also, I was not aware that the second highest executive officer in the U.S state, below the Governor is called Lieutenant Governor. The responsibilities of the Lieutenant Governor can vary from State to state with some of them having specific duties assigned by the State or the Governor.
Can you please help respond to the writing, make it personal, and explain why you agree with it?