Author: Michael Speciale
Who do our elected officials work for?
Does the School Board report to the County Commissioners?
How about the Register of Deeds or the Clerk of Court?
What about our State Senator? Does he work for the President of the Senate?
Does our State Representative work for the Speaker of the House?
What about our folks in Congress? Congressman, by the way, is not a title. Both our US Senator and our US Representative are Congressmen. The correct title for our US House Member is Representative, just like in the State House.
How about those of us who live within city limits who have Aldermen or City Commissioners? Do they work for the Mayor? Who does the Mayor work for?
Some of you may be surprised to know that the only people that our elected officials work for are ‘we the people’! The Attorney General does not work for the Governor, the State Treasurer, State Auditor, State School Superintendent, and the other members of the Council of State work for ‘we the people’!
Our State Senator and Legislator works for ‘we the people’! The County Register of Deeds, the County Sheriff, the County Court Clerk and ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS work for “WE THE PEOPLE”!
This is why we need to look closely at who we elect, and why we need to ask pertinent, valid questions about how each candidate intends to do the job that they are running for if they are elected.
This is why it is not a popularity contest, it is a job application, and we the people are doing the hiring. We need to take seriously the job of selecting those who are asking for our support and our votes. Family members, friends, neighbors, looks, gender, race, religion, party affiliation and the like are not qualifications for any job in government, and we need to take our votes seriously.
As citizens, our votes are the most valuable thing that we possess, and to give them away without careful consideration of the quality, integrity, training, and abilities of the prospective candidates is a travesty, and it is a poke in the eye to every veteran who ever stood for our freedoms. We can no longer let our votes be taken for granted.
This is why we the people should not accept excuses from our elected officials. This is why we need to remind our elected officials that their positions are temporary in nature (not lifetime jobs) and we need to replace them at proper intervals. A good question to ask candidates is how long they intend to stay in office if they are elected, and to let them know we will hold them to that limit.
All Americans should take seriously the right to vote, and to only allocate our votes to those who deserve them and who will work for ‘we the people’!