Making Government Cool

Barack Obama apparently wants to make working for the government cool.  Having worked in that sector several times (mostly on the legislative side) I think that is great.  I was never, however, aware that working for the government wasn't cool...but then,  I am definitely not the arbiter of what is cool.

I have a few thoughts about what government has become, though.

Here in Seattle we have just emerged from two weeks of snow and ice.  The City refused to use any de-icing mechanisms on the roads because, apparently, they were worried about salt going into Puget Sound (which, by the way, is a salt water body).  Of course, what they did instead was use sand.  Tons and tons of sand, which the impacts of the increased sediment load into Puget Sound has a far greater probability of impacting species such as salmon, than the diluted salt.  

So, because the roads became essentially impassible for two weeks there were enormous transportation impacts.  Our city, like every other city in the US, is rushing to find money for trolleys, yet the one trolley line we have now, covering about a mile through the north end of downtown to South Lake Union, never ran.  Too much snow on the tracks.  We have become a city that wants people to get out of their cars, yet, few if any buses were able to operate.  Deliveries from UPS to FedEx were not able to be made.  When people started complaining, Jan Drago, a City Councilwoman was quoted in the newspaper as saying she didn't have any problems getting around in her 4 wheel drive SUV.

And of course, garbage was never picked up.  So today in the newspaper, the director of the public utility was quoted as saying garbage pick up will resume on normal schedules on Monday, and oh, by the way, we won't be charged for extra garbage!  What!

Between the "I get around in my SUV so why are people complaining?" and the arrogance of "people won't be charged for extra garbage," I think, at least in this city, our government has forgotten who they work for.  

Council woman Drago should have gotten out of her SUV (which by the way, she consistently votes for reducing parking spaces in high density housing, for spending money on trolleys and other transit methods, so what is she doing owning an SUV much less driving around in it?) and found out how 9/10ths of the city was dealing with the mess.  The head of the public utility should have been apologizing and saying something like: "we understand people will have more garbage than normal and we look forward to making sure every thing is picked up and restored back to normal.  In fact, because we missed pick-ups we are giving every one a credit on their next bills."

A neighbor recently told me about an encounter he had with the building department.  His house apparently is out of compliance with the code because a prior owner built a bedroom in what was the garage without a permit.  As he struggled to get the permits to bring everything back into code, a planner looked at him and said: "gotcha'."

Maybe this is a Seattle thing.  But I have experience the same arrogance with state employees, and don't even get me started on some encounters I have had with the feds.   Of course there are great civil servants.  People who want to do a good job for us.  Empirically, though, I think they are an anomaly, not the standard.  It should, of course, be the other way around.

So, Mr. President elect, if you're going to make working for the government cool, please remember it starts at the top.  Each and every federal bureaucrat or appointed official must be reminded, daily, that they work for the citizens, not the other way around.  It's not about gotcha's or control or power.  It's about service.