Copyright 2006 Al Arnold We all know of at least one local elected official, who seems to have been around forever. At some point in time that person finally decides to retire. Their name will not be on the ballot.
One of those local icons was retiring this year from my County Board.
This particular gentleman gave me one of my all time favorite ?keepsake? remarks. A ?keepsake? remark is one of those statements that you never forget. It is forever burned in your memory.
This particular ?keepsake? remark came during County Board budget deliberations five years ago. I was attempting to remove from the budget, all funds earmarked for the D.A.R.E. program. I stated I was not opposed to drug education programs, I was just opposed to this particular drug education program. I had read the D.A.R.E. material when my son had gone through the program. I stated I was opposed to D.A.R.E. because I believed that it lied to the kids, about the effects of some drugs.
This local elected icon, the Chairman of the Law Enforcement Committee, a long time Public Safety employee as a police officer then Sheriff, stood to the floor, shook his finger at me and loudly proclaimed, ?Of course we lie to the kids, how else are we going to get through to them??
Five years, and I am still speechless. I was never able to come up with a rebuttal. I still can't. How can you rebut that remark?
While my political career took a twist and I had to resign from the County Board, this political icon became the new Chairman of the County Board. This public servant held various elected offices for 35 years.
I wonder how many other people he served with over those 35 years? How many ?keepsake? remarks did he give to those people? How many ?keepsake? remarks has he heard?
How many other public servants across the country, have spent the past 30 plus years, putting their name on the ballot every two years, sometimes serving on multiple local boards simultaneously? How many of those ?races? were un-opposed? But, most of all, what drives someone to serve for 35 years of low pay, phone calls at home at all times of the day, interruptions at a restaurant dinner with your spouse and harassment in bars?
The next time I saw him, I was going to ask him some of these questions. But, shortly after announcing he would no longer run for office, he died of a sudden heart attack.
When you see your local political icon, ask them these questions before it is too late. I bet you will enjoy their answers. They might even give you a ?keepsake? remark. They are all very, very interesting characters.
Ole! Thanks for the memories.
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Al Arnold, Local Politics Pontificator, is the author of Moving Mountains and Molehills Local Politics 101. http://WWW.LocalPolitics101.US
