The local experience in a nationwide safety assessment provides an object lesson in bureaucratic inefficiency.
The safety assessment of pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders who use Missouri Boulevard was conducted by representatives of a range of agencies.
The guest list included: Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization; Jefferson City's police department and public works and transit divisions; Missouri Department of Transportation; Federal Transit Administration; Federal Highway Administration; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Capital Region Medical Center; and Mid-America Regional Council.
The participants were divided into three groups: a cycling team and both an east team and west team of pedestrians and wheelchair users.
The observation of Transportation Planner Katrina Williams was pretty much what our readers might expect. She said the results did not surprise local or state representatives, who are familiar with safety challenges along Missouri Boulevard. But, she added: "The federal partners, I think, were more surprised than anybody else because they're not here."
We don't mean to disparage the federal partners. They were given a job to do and completed their assignment.
Our question is: why do we need federal representatives to acknowledge problems already known to and experienced by state and local officials?
The answer is because the assessment will be used to apply for federal funding to fix the problem. Williams said: "If we're applying for any kind of federal funds, we can use this as something to cite and say, 'We do have issues.'"
Which we already knew.
The problem is too many tax dollars are channeled to the federal government to address state and local problems. The system is inefficient because tax money is siphoned for bureaucratic federal assessment and approval before a fraction of the money is returned to fix the problem.
The remedy is for voters to elect members of Congress who promise to address federal problems - defense, immigration, interstate commerce - not every problem.
A foundation of the U.S. Constitution is the doctrine of federalism - the powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved for "the states, respectively, or to the people."
Elect members of Congress based not on their sweeping promises, but on their commitment to the greater efficiency and effectiveness of state and local control.