Los Angeles: local v national governing

Janice Hahn, D-Rep from the Los Angeles area, has decided not to run again for her Congressional seat next year reports the LA Times.  She’s been in office since 2011.  She says that with the current non-legislating that goes on in Washington she can better represent her district from a seat in the powerful Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. where she would be one of only five members.  She has lineage there.  Her father served for four decades and as a junior member of the party out of power in Congress she certainly doesn’t have much to do.  In the conversation about the importance of cities plus the effectiveness of city versus national government not only to govern locally (and in the case of the US, at all) you have to wonder if more national reps might consider a similar move.  There are still perks for the taking in Washington even for those “out of power.”  But for those still interested in governing and improving the lot of citizens, Janice Hahn could be a trendsetter.