Public Servants

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This evening we held the annual holiday party for the Sedgwick County Federation of Women’s Democratic Clubs (I know; we’ve tried to come up with a shorter name, but nothing gets a majority.). The Federation is composed not only of Democratic women, but also of Democratic men who choose to be associate members.

As I sat in the charming living room of our hosts, the conversation turned to the Blagojevich matter. I looked around and realized that I was sitting near Jim Ward, minority leader of the Democratic caucus in the Kansas State Legislature and representative for the 88th District. Next to me sat Geraldine Flaharty, Representative for the 98th District. Across the room was Gwen Welshimer, Sedgwick County Commissioner.

At one point, Oletha Faust-Goudeau stopped in. She is the newly elected Kansas State Senator for the 29th District, who is replacing Donald Betts Jr., also a member. I gave Barb Fuller, a member of the local school board, an update on my son’s career as a teacher of English as a foreign language. I was sorry not to see the eight other representatives who are members. I won’t list all their names. You’re probably already bored with the list I’ve given you.

The point here is not how many officeholders are members of the SCFWDC; the point is that I know these people. I have worked with them to achieve common goals. I have followed their careers, especially so since I started working in the Capitol during the legislative session. I cannot imagine any one of them taking money for favors. I’ll go further. I cannot imagine any of them doing something unethical.

It’s popular to make fun of politicians. The pundits like to opine that all politics is corrupt and all politicians liars and hypocrites. Late-night comedians garner laughs any time they bring up the supposed dishonesty of politicians.

But that is not my experience of politicians. The politicians I know are heroes. They are people who put their private lives on hold to read boring reports about boring policies that affect all of us every day in ways we don’t even notice.

Now and then, they get to work on something sexy, like making gambling legal, but mostly they sit in committees discussing how much money should go to each of the many boards that set standards for endeavors in everything from medicine to beauty shops. They try to find a way to express the intent of their legislation so carefully that the workers in the various state departments will actually follow that intent.

And when all the study and discussion is through, they put themselves on the line by voting “yea” or “nay” on every bill and every resolution, knowing that their vote is being recorded so that everyone who ever wants to know can find out how they voted.

I’m not saying that there are not corrupt politicians. Of course, there are corrupt politicians. There is corruption in every walk of life. But the vast majority of the people who seek public office do so in order to give honest service to their constituents. In fact, I think it’s high time we stopped calling them politicians and returned to the venerable title of public servants.

They deserve it.
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