Column for June 23, 2011

I have had some interesting discussions lately on the purpose of government, the origins of government, and the rule of law. In this country, we are thankfully guaranteed a republican form of government as opposed to a democracy. That federal guarantee flows down to the states, counties, and municipalities, since we have representatives that we engage on our behalf from within the public (res publica, meaning roughly “public matter”, the root of the word, republic).

It is a public matter what happens in our government, and we should take note of things that are contrary to the public good. It has been said that “you get what you pay for”. That is not always axiomatic. It is a surety, however, that we pay for what we get. Keeping an eye on what we pay for is indeed a public matter.

Occasionally we contend with sheer hubris on the part of our hirelings in government. Here is a case in point. You may have read about the Town of Smithfield’s dismissal of their town manager. The town manager serves at the pleasure of the town council and when it is right to do so, they should indeed remove their hireling from his job. Ostensibly, the removal was for unapproved hefty pay raises for a number of Smithfield town employees. The town council did not give the assent to these pay raises; the town manager agreed to give them without seeking their approval. To be sure the town manager did not act solely on his own and he was not the only one who knew that unauthorized pay raises were being given. Not only has the town manager been fired but the town clerk has left her position in disgrace. The Smithfield town attorney has put in many hours of legal work and advice, and that has cost the town many more thousands of dollars.

In a down economy where every level of government has to cut spending (a lesson that North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue had to learn the hard way), it was a travesty to see a town have a scandal like that, the public trust betrayed, and needless cost incurred in hard financial times. The government does not exist to provide employment for people. Rather it exists to serve and protect the people of the town. It is the creation of the townsfolk. The townsfolk of Smithfield did not get what they were paying for but they sure are paying for what they got.

The other day I interacted with a public educator who complained about last week’s vote by the North Carolina General Assembly to override the governor’s veto of the budget. The budget made necessary cuts to education spending. Since it is the biggest budget item, it has to be on the chopping block like everything else on which the state spends our money. We were spending far too much money in many areas, including education. We had a lot of extra staff that were not necessary and were funded by temporary revenue sources. Cutting the extra is not wrong, it is the responsible thing to do. We the taxpayers, via our elected representatives, demanded that our schools be run more efficiently and responsibly.

If any teachers or staff members will lose their jobs, I sympathize. My wife has been out of work for over two years and I have been unemployed before, too. Our household budget is tighter than it has been in years. But I also understand the public good versus the individual good. As I told this one educator for the record, I have worked for the federal government, the state, and a municipality in my career, so yes, I understand government work and public sector employment. It is both because of this and being a taxpayer that I have little tolerance for whining by public employees. Instead of decrying having to pay more for health care benefits and perhaps a slight pay cut, their attitude has to be one of gratitude that they still have jobs. I personally know too many people out of work who wish they had such employment.

Again, it is not the job of government to supply employment, it is to serve the public. As is the case with our public schools and for the taxpayers in the Town of Smithfield, the public did not get what they paid for, but are certainly paying for what they got from government.