Power is completely fucked at the local level in a lot of places. In LA councilmen have basically unilateral power on what gets built in their district, and of the people who vote something crazy like 70% are homeowners (which only make up 30% of the population of LA iirc). So NIMBYism in LA ends up with grossly disproportionate representation that isn't going to ever change until the city charter does, probably long after the city is completely fucked from being unable to build housing supply or transit needed to sustain economic development. It's hard not to be a cynic when these people have just so much entrenched power.