The View From The Cheap Seats: Politics in an Odd-Numbered Year XII (Part 1): Bureaucrats=Sitting Ducks

Most of us who work in the private sector have bosses. The story of how our bosses got there are all unique; but generally they all have some things in common:

Usually our bosses are more experienced at some aspect of the job than their subordinates are.
They usually have some training in the job of their subordinates.
They got the managerial position through the virtue of their experience within their field, excelled at some critical function of their company, or have worked their way up the corporate ladder of their organization.

Now, imagine Monday you wake up, get ready, head to work, and find out there would be some changes. First, instead of one boss, you will have five bosses, each one of them would have, at best, a passing understanding of the field which you're an expert. Second, they will have conflicting views of how you should do your job and what you should accomplish. Finally, here's where it's really interesting, your bosses will be selected in an elaborate popularity contest where everyone with a vote has no idea what you do - but they all have an opinion of how you ought to do it. Oh yeah, involve yourself directly in that contest and you're fired.

Well, if that doesn't scare you, then a job County Government might be right up your alley. The sheer madness of that logic might be why Winston Churchill referred to Democracy as "...the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried" County staff has the training and experience to make decisions based on "good government" decisions; but rarely do they have the personalities to sell it. That's what makes them such easy targets politically. That might be why Harold Smith in his Republican Men's Club News post decided to bully them first in his GOP Takeover Plan:

In my opinion, we have serious political problems in Cabarrus County.
The first problem:
Cabarrus County has a bunch of professional administrative bureaucrats running the county and city local governments without proper oversight by elected officials. I am specifically referring to the following administrative bureaucrats:
City Managers, Superintendent of Cabarrus County Schools, County Manager and their staffs.
These administrative bureaucrats believe they are the experts and should be the final authority in our county. They believe the answers are more government, higher taxes, keeping the citizens in the dark with private meetings and spend-spend-spend solutions. They have no respect for private property or input from citizens. These administrative bureaucrats are professionals who have been trained to control and manipulate elected officials.
The elected officials are as follows: The majority of County Commissioners, the majority of Kannapolis City Council, the majority of Concord City Council and the majority of Cabarrus County School Board. These elected officials have no understanding of their responsibility, sound fiscal policies or taxpayer's bill of rights. They rubber stamp whatever the administrative bureaucrats recommends.

The best way to address this is to start with the most outrageous statement first: These administrative bureaucrats are professionals who have been trained to control and manipulate elected officials. Yes, in addition to Economics, Law, and Construction Practices the more progressive Public Administrative BA programs are now requiring all undergraduates to take Hypnosis Seminar and Mind-Control Practicum. Harold Smith has single-handedly uncovered a sinister plot to take over our Democracy. You don't believe me? How about this telling excerpt from a recent County Commissioners meeting:

Seriously, though, take some time and watch the report from the County Senior staff like Pam Dubois or Jonathan Marshall and you'll hear thoughtful and intelligent analysis and an informative presentation; but they really don't bring you to see their point-of-view with their force of will. For instance, it's part of Pam Dubois' job as Finance Director to make spreadsheets. Being an Excel expert myself whose seen her work, I can tell you that she knows her way around Excel. However, having sat through her presentations and you realize that her next job won't be selling used cars.

Another example is the Superintendent of Cabarrus County Schools, Dr. Harold Winkler. I've worked in several elections starting in 1992, and my latest work was with the school bonds. Let's be clear about this: Dr. Winkler was the most politically obtuse individual I've ever encountered on any campaign. He would probably not disagree with that statement. He freely admitted to a group I was with that he really didn't like campaigning. However, spend a little time with him and you can tell the fella is singularly focused on educational matters. For instance, during a meeting about the bond campaign strategy he spent about 10 minutes talking about new discoveries in early adolescent cognitive development. After that, members of his staff took care of most of the campaign material for that meeting.

The bottom line is, which kind of results does Dr. Winkler achieve. Well, last year, I wrote a response to a letter written by Steven Smith to the Cabarrus Neighbors where he referred to Cabarrus County Schools as a "tax hog". For purposes of full disclosure, many of these statistics came from the 2002-2003 Report Card from www.ncreportcards.com on Cabarrus County Schools; but the numbers haven't changed too much in the 2003-2004 Report Card. Here's the Letter to the Editor I wrote in July 2004:

Cabarrus County Getting Bang for the Buck from Schools

Having read Steven Smith's letter on Sunday, I was overcome with guilt. As a product of the "tax hog" Cabarrus County Schools, I was a recipient of the "bilking of the taxpayers" and a hapless pawn of the "Tax and Spend Liberals". In my contrition, I researched the matter - to begin to atone for my transgressions and calm my conservative conscience.

You can imagine my surprise when I found that the operational expenditure per student was 11% less for Cabarrus County students than the average NC student. The average district gives up 6% more "fat" from their "local portion" per student. Low funding means scores must have slipped. Actually, EOG and SAT scores beat the state average. A greater than average percentage of Cabarrus County schools' students showed up for the SAT. Their scores were higher than the state and national averages, higher than EVERY one of the bordering county school systems' scores, and higher than EVERY one of the North Carolina county school systems which border the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system.

Well, Mr. Smith said that pay was "bloated" for school employees. Actually, we'd have to increase the average annual teacher pay by more than $6000 to meet the state average (which is lower than the national average) - in spite of the fact that we have a higher percentage of board qualified and "highly qualified" (as defined by federal standards) than the average system in the state. That's with larger classes and facilities.

Well, others have insisted that we must be spending too much on buildings and equipment. Nope. Cabarrus County spent nearly 30% less of local funds than the average district over the past five years on new buildings and building improvements. The number of students per Internet-connected computer is about 20% higher than the state average. Also, there are fewer books per student in Cabarrus County than the average NC district.

Looking at those numbers, most people will conclude - as I did - that there's little fat in the school budgets. It seems like the community should do what it can to maintain this level of effectiveness from our County schools.

My Republican soul was returned to its tranquil state. I compared these numbers to a 50% reduction in the county fund balance in spite of nearly 20% increase in revenue over the past five years. All for a short-lived, 5% tax cut which will result in higher taxes in the near future when interest rates drive up the County's new variable-interest loans.

Numbers don't lie - compared to some of the Commissioners - the real "Compassionate Conservatives" and "Reformers with Results" are on the Cabarrus County School Board.

I could very well have bought Mr. Smith's argument. Thankfully, I went to good schools - I was taught to do my homework.

Justin Thibault

Here's the bottom line: Harold Smith, Coy Privette, and the remainder of the Men's Club gang shouldn't bully County Staff in the political arena. Mainly because County Staff really can't ethically involve themselves in the political arena - so they can't effectively fight back.

Then again, maybe the new leadership of the Republican Men's Club is only going to fight those who can't fight back.

The View From The Cheap Seats

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Politics in an Odd-Numbered Year XII (Part 1): Bureaucrats=Sitting Ducks

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