A Salute to Local Governance

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, February 18, 2007

I give politicians a hard time.  After all…they work hard to get elected so that they can receive criticism from old pundits like me.

Today’s column, however, has as its purpose the expression of appreciation to those countless thousands of citizens who serve as elected officials on city councils, county commissions, boards of education, and varied other elected bodies at the local levels of government across this great nation of ours.  While it is true that there are more than a few south ends of north bound mules out there, the preponderance of these public servants are in those positions of governance because they saw a need and felt that they had something to offer in grappling with the myriad array of challenges confronting local government everywhere.

Such events as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the total breakdown of our border security, the challenge faced in providing adequate health care at a reasonable cost, and the task of effectively managing growth while conserving natural resources and protecting the environment in our society demonstrate the ineptness of the national government to do very much about the day-in and day-out problems of American citizens.  The state government does only slightly better.

The real task of meeting and defeating the challenges facing our way of life today must be accomplished by those citizen legislators who deal with local problems and concerns…those people who are not feted by big moneyed lobbyists and who do not have to raise millions of dollars so that they can stay in office until retirement.

My hat is off to these citizens.  To you, I say “stay the course, stay on task, stay strong in you determination to provide service...but don’t stay forever.”