The establishment of standing

I have searched online a bit for a definition of "standing" that
worked for my purpose. The search was unsuccessful.

If I were writing about "legal standing", I could link you to nice solid definitions. But on the issue of citizens having "standing" with their government, there is no readily obvious definition.

I will offer a definition of my own. A citizen who has standing can tap their government on the shoulder and the government will acknowledge the tap. A citizen who has standing can ask their government any legitimate question, and the government will respond to the question.

In contrast; consider the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education and their rule that you are not allowed to ask questions during the public forum. Worse, you are not entitled to a response even if you submit your question in writing.

They do not recognize your right to ask them questions
any more than they recognize their obligation to respond
to your legitimate questions about public interests and
about their public service, by answering them candidly,
forthrightly and honestly.

Why wouldn't you have a right to ask questions, except that
you haven't the "standing" to ask them?

Why do they feel no obligation to answer your questions,
except that you haven't the "standing" to expect them to
respond to your or your question?

Why not, except that in their eyes, you haven't the "standing" to intrude upon their existence?

Once, link, in a meeting with
School Board Member
Marty Esquivel and then
Board Member Jon Barela,
I expressed my conviction
Supt Winston Brooks has an
obligation to answer some
questions; questions about
why he will not hold himself
honestly accountable as a role
model of student standards of
conduct.

His response was to ask me, who was I to think that a superintendent (or any of his many subordinates) should have to respond to a question from me in the first place? Who in the hell did I think I was? What standing did I have, to ask questions of powerful politicians and public servants?

It was the same question
Jon Barela asked me when
I filed a complaint against him
with the Republican Party of
New Mexico, link;
who in the hell was I,
(how much money had I
given to the Republican Party)
to be filing a complaint against him?


It's snobbery really. They think
they're the privileged class and we are the great unwashed.

Which gets me back to the question; so what do we have to do
to establish our "standing" with politicians and public servants?

We have to establish our standing with them, before we can
establish their accountability to us.




photos Mark Bralley