No one cares about Local Control any more than they do about State's Rights. It's 100% where you think it will aid your cause. I want Austin to be able to do things the Texas Legislature doesn't want, and I want Huntington Beach to be prevented from doing things the California Legislature doesn't want. I make a limited exception for things with minimal affect on vulnerable people or anyone out of their jurisdiction - say, what flag they fly.
Preemption makes a lot of sense theoretically with zoning and land-use power specifically because that's a delegation of authority from the state to the cities and they can take it back any time they want. I suppose that's probably true of most or all other city authorities too but it's particularly clear-cut in this case.
Is 2 universally true? States vary in how much & which power is "inherently" vested in cities. Home rule states, Dillon's Rule states, lots of in-betweens. In California charter cities have home rule in principle - but in practice that's highly worn down, because the state can preempt them in anything it deems a matter of statewide importance.
That said, that's my legalistic take, and even in states with home rule, the state is arguably the organic entity and the natural level where these relationships can be altered, e.g. via state constitutional amendments. No one would say a city cannot lose home rule without its consent.
Commomwealths are more powerful than states, but states have more power than cities.
Is this correct: The origin of all of this is the constitutional enumeration of rights and responsibilities of state governments (no mention there of cities or localities) inherited from a British colonial power structure where colonies' governors were basically local representatives of royal authority.
Heebie, I know this sounds horrible and I don't mean it that way, but Texas and Oklahoma do not make me optimistic about the future of the US. Leaders of large American cities are not exactly Guan Yu figures-- Brandon Johnson sucks, NYC is going to get Cuomo again, Cherelle is honestly pretty recognizable in the principal of Abbott Elementary, Michelle Wu is good but has kind of an easier problem to solve. California is apparently seriously handicapped by Californians. How is Houston's mayor? Demographic changes are not helping the cause of civilization either,
Yours in good cheer,
Yeah, Home Rule versus Dillon's Rule makes a difference in how much inherent power cities have and I don't know how that affects specific powers. Zoning is definitely a specifically delegated power in every state, though, except Hawaii which does it at the state level. There's a model act that Herbert Hoover championed when he was Commerce Secretary that's the basis for these delegations.
That is, I don't know to what extent Home Rule affects other powers, but it doesn't really affect zoning, which is a specific delegation of power from the state in every case.
We have a home rule charter. I have no idea what it means. But we have very low housing prices compared to California.
We have home rule. I don't think the state cares though.
6/7: Oh, I see - yes, Hoover provided a more consistent model.
I'm just a common tater, from a common wealth.
Common, common, common, chameleon.
12. Remember in Little Town on the Prairie, when Pa impales two potatoes on the blade of an axe, and wins at charades? It took me like ten years to get that joke.
Castration jokes aren't for the kids.
The clue was "Charles Spudslice," the Civil War general.