As readers no doubt are tired of being reminded, all politics is local. And whether or not the late, legendary U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill actually was the first to invoke that phrase, he surely would be proud of Colorado’s 4th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Ken Buck for embracing it this week.

To wit, Buck’s op-ed published Tuesday in his hometown paper, the Greeley Tribune. Buck may serve in a lawmaking body that places a premium on posturing over weighty, resonant and poll-tested issues of national and international bearing, but his commentary in the Tribune – bearing the headline, “Rather than wantonly eliminating the Weld County Council, elect better council members” – couldn’t be any more down-home. And it just might be unprecedented for how far afield it seems to be from the usual fodder of a sitting member of Congress.

The piece addresses an issue we reported on earlier this month and that has been in the news for some time in Greeley: a ballot proposal referred by a majority of Weld County Commissioners to disband the aforementioned county council. As Complete Colorado investigative ace Sherrie Peif informed us at the time, critics of the proposal surmise it’s retaliation for an audit of the commission by the council, which functions as sort of a watchdog over county affairs. Some even called it a power grab by the commission.

Peif then did her own impromptu poll of key political figures in the county to test if the commissioners’ proposal had any traction; it turned out to be overwhelmingly unpopular.

Enter Buck, who doesn’t pull his punches in this week’s op-ed opposing the commission’s bid to eliminate the council:

By asking the voters to abolish the Weld County Council, the commissioners seek to eliminate safeguards erected to the home rule charter and place more authority under the commissioner’s control.

The decision to place 1A on the ballot came right after the Weld County Council contracted with an out-of-state, independent firm to conduct an audit of the county commissioners. Axing your own oversight body right after they suggest improvements undermines public confidence in good government.

Buck also notes:

The county council plays an important oversight role for Weld County. Adding an extra layer of accountability in government doesn’t necessarily make government bigger. I proudly tell my colleagues in Congress that my home county is the only county in the U.S. with no county sales tax and no debt.

It’s all too easy for a member of the D.C. delegation to pepper home-state media with press releases about cyber-security or global terrorism. But to wade knee-deep into a local issue and take sides? Not so common.

Whatever Buck’s most recent ruminations about running for another political office closer to home, he evidently hasn’t lost interest in Colorado politics.