Gina, Joey, Joyce and Denise Dear City Council Members: I have been an elected official for almost 20 years now. During my 5 term tenure on the Konocti School Board, I have served with some 17 different board members. Amongst them have been men, women, liberals, conservatives, radicals, Democrats, and Republicans. In other words, it has been a very diverse group. We have not always agreed about everything. There have been controversies and heated discussions. There have been major differences in philosophy and long debates. There have always been members of the public that agreed with our decisions and others that didn’t. During all this time as an elected public servant, I learned an important lesson. I am there to serve the public and not myself. As long as I advocate for polices that I believe help my constituents I am doing my job. The minute I begin reacting to personalities or getting involved in personal drama, I am no longer fulfilling my duty as an elected official. The Konocti School Board conducts itself like this: A board member puts something on the agenda and we talk about it. During that discussion, no opinion is off limits. We can argue and debate for hours if it is necessary but we respect each other when we do that. The public then gets to tell us how they feel. And when we are done with all the talk, someone makes a motion and we vote. Once the vote is taken we respect the outcome. Nobody is penalized or chastised for advocating an unpopular opinion. We all abide by the majority decision whether it is 5-0, 4-1, or 3-2. We get a lot of business done that way. And the public knows we are a professional and caring board. And no board member feels intimidated about expressing themselves even if they are alone in their opinion. Your council is about to make a grave error that will undermine the public’s faith in its city government. I urge you to reconsider the idea of retaliating against your mayor for speaking up about something you don’t agree with. Take a vote about the issue and not the person. Make a decision and move on. There is plenty of work still do be done. Sincerely, Herb Gura
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 22:42:38 +0000
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