What do you do when you wake up one morning and learn your local government is hell-bent on making a terrible decision. It could be anything – a bad real estate deal, an idiotic public works project, maybe it’s a high-density housing project in your sleepy suburban downtown. I get calls about these things all the time, and I hate to say it, but it’s usually too late to do anything about it. Sure, you might be able to flood the council chambers with enough angry residents to move the needle, but you’re just throwing a “Hail Mary” at that point. You have to realize that when you elect someone to public office, you give them the authority to make decisions on your behalf. So, you have to make sure to elect the right ones up front. Then you have to attend their meetings regularly to make sure they stay on track. You can’t just expect to pop in at the 11th hour and exercise a “citizen’s veto,” because there’s no such thing. I call these situations painful lessons in civics, and they’re going to keep happening until conservatives start taking their responsibilities as citizens seriously.