National politics meets local zoning

Finally! Someone has managed to dig deep enough to connect one of the major party candidates to municipal zoning. The Boston Globe has tracked down one of Sarah Palin's early political career moves, opposing zoning:

Days after Sarah Palin became Mayor John Stein's only serious challenger in 1996, the 32-year-old city councilwoman stood and cast a proud, dissenting vote against one of Stein's greatest achievements: the first zoning plan in Wasilla's history.

In Wasilla that may have been a sensitive move that comes from listening to the people:

"That probably was the reason she was elected mayor," said David Chappel, who joined Palin as the only two of six council members to vote against the city plan and later became her deputy mayor.

I don't whether it means anything compared to economic or International policies, but it sure shows how something as seemingly innocuous as zoning can connect with some much larger philosophical perspectives. Or maybe it is just a way to get another nasty comment or two on the blog. Time will tell.