10 December 2008
Governing “For The People”
I have served as an elected official for our local school board for the last three and a half years. During this time the public has mostly ignored me, doing my job month after month to govern our district to (hopefully) improve student achievement. I am occasionally hated and praised in just about equal measure – depending upon what the board did or didn’t do at its last meeting.
Anyone goes into a public position should understand that it’s not about you – it’s about who you represent. Your votes, your statements, your actions all reflect the people who you put you in office. You have no idea who is paying attention, until they come forward with a comment – in person or anonymously – and you are suddenly confronted with the reality that what you do (or don’t do) has immediate impact on the lives of others. This realization has caused me to think twice about what I say or how I vote, knowing that someone, somewhere is paying attention.
Unfortunately, this way of governing is not always at work – most recently illustrated in the grandiose scheming of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Reading the complaint against the Governor and his Chief of Staff, I was struck by the complete disregard for the people of Illinois in the discussions that were recorded. To put it mildly, the arrogance of personal promotion is so elevated in the mind of the Governor, that he is incapable of objectively leading a state government with any semblance of level headed thinking.
As I come to the end of my term as a school board member, and contemplate further service in this, or any other public office, I am reminded of the two related phrases from our nation’s history that should guide the thinking and decisions of any elected official, no matter what level of public service:
Anyone goes into a public position should understand that it’s not about you – it’s about who you represent. Your votes, your statements, your actions all reflect the people who you put you in office. You have no idea who is paying attention, until they come forward with a comment – in person or anonymously – and you are suddenly confronted with the reality that what you do (or don’t do) has immediate impact on the lives of others. This realization has caused me to think twice about what I say or how I vote, knowing that someone, somewhere is paying attention.
Unfortunately, this way of governing is not always at work – most recently illustrated in the grandiose scheming of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Reading the complaint against the Governor and his Chief of Staff, I was struck by the complete disregard for the people of Illinois in the discussions that were recorded. To put it mildly, the arrogance of personal promotion is so elevated in the mind of the Governor, that he is incapable of objectively leading a state government with any semblance of level headed thinking.
As I come to the end of my term as a school board member, and contemplate further service in this, or any other public office, I am reminded of the two related phrases from our nation’s history that should guide the thinking and decisions of any elected official, no matter what level of public service:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity…” – Preamble to the US Constitution¶ 9:51 AM
“-- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” – Gettysburg Address
