I've gotten more involved in local politics, out of sheer necessity. I had always made the assumption that local pols might have marginally better motivations, if only because they need to live in the bed that they make.
Nope. Dumb. Dumb as a box of rocks, and grasping (greedy, too, but "grasping" is more apt, I think). The local town council meeting is a snake pit, and I feel like I need a shower after every time I visit it.
Irving TX has a great mayor, everyone on the council is crap. And that is a suburban city.