In a few days I'll once again take an oath of office and be seated as an elected official again.
I've been through it enough times now where I'm over the initial shock that all elected officials go through the first time the words of the oath sink in. When you realize what you've just done, what responsibilities you've taken on, it's a little intimidating. I approach it with more solemnity now than I did in the past because, as I'm growing older, the consequences of holding public office seem more......more....Profound.
Let me share a few thoughts with you.
Almost any public office you can think of involves making decisions which could some day, somehow become a life or death decision for somebody, somewhere, somehow. When you're voting on the annual City Budget for instance, you've got to understand that some of the "cost saving measures" you're voting for could eventually result in placing a life at risk. I'm not talking about cutting the Park and Recreation budget. Or maybe even the Library budget. But when you're dealing with Police, Fire, Ambulance and even Public Works, make no mistake about it, you're gambling with human life. You will (if you are a person of conscious) at least once in your career, go to bed asking yourself if the $40,000 you cut from the Police/Fire/Ambulance Budget is worth the loss of a single human life. You'll wonder. And worry.
Contrary to popular, cynical logic, WHO you elect DOES make a difference. The philosophy and character of persons running for office should be scrutinized very carefully. A tough-talking, red-meat-eating politician may amuse and entertain but do you really want that kind of person deciding how often the garbage gets picked up? Or, if the roof will be repaired on your kids school?
My patience has grown thin with the "fast burners" in local government. You know who I'm talking about, don't you. We've all seen the bright young person (there are as many Woman fast burners as men these days) who has the endorsement of the local Rotary/Lions/Kiwanis/Chamber of Commerce, dresses immaculately for each meeting and feels the need to speak to each and every issue on the agenda. These people are likely to jump out of their seats in order to "Move" a motion or even "Second" a motion for the sole purpose of making sure their name appears in the newspaper, or, at the very least, in the meeting minutes. They all harbor a common dream: that this seat is a stepping-stone to a higher public office. When I see them on the street these days, I'm amused because I picture that commercial of a man walking down the street who is being followed by another man holding a "boombox" which is playing the first man's "own theme song". I'm certain, in their minds these folks hear their own theme song. They add nothing to the debate except sound-bites and I think we more than enough of them these days.
In my younger days I complained bitterly about the "idiots" serving on the City Councils where I worked. I complained that we were dealing with "garbage can government" in that the people serving on the council were there because nobody else wanted to be there. Today, I think those people were geniuses. Let me give you an example:
One of my old nemesis' used to infuriate me by quoting Abraham Lincoln and then "zinging" me with a swift and well-placed parliamentary maneuver. I came to learn that whenever he asked to be recognized and then started quoting Lincoln, I was in for a long, long night. A goodly number of public office-holders I've talked to recently have ZERO, ZIP, NADA knowledge of Parliamentary Procedure, much less any appreciable knowledge of Abraham Lincoln.
I've rambled on enough, I think so let me leave you with this thought.
I'm growing older now and I've have a couple of recent encounters with my own mortality. The age and the experiences have taught me to appreciate and honor the position I am holding and treat it with reverence. I hope others do also.
