It's time to recognize public servants

With the “retirement” of one of Brazil’s most dedicated public servants and gentlemen, it’s time to recognize all those ladies and gentlemen who take public service to mean the best sense of the word.
I have come to admire Roy KellAR over the past several years. I did not make a typo when I captizalized the “AR” in his name. From the first day I met him five years ago he made it a point to be sure I did not misspell his name. After he received accolades from his fellow members of the city council and the mayor, I had to ask him, “And how do you spell your last name?”
It has been an inside joke between us and his response, with a smile was, “You know how to spell my name!”
Good humor. That is just one of the marks of the true “public servants” in our midst.
It doesn’t mean good public servants always agree.
As Angie Modesitt pointed out when praising Roy, sometimes public servants have to “cut through the crap” in order to decide how to vote on a given issue.
Or, as Mayor Brian Wyndham said, many serious decisions have to be made by elected officials.
True public servants make those decisions on the basis of an idea’s merit, not “along party lines.”
That is one reason I enjoy community journalism. Rather than all the “crap” we see on the national scene as elected officials cow-tow to their party chiefs rather than debate issues on the merits, local public servants truly try to see the public good in the way they vote.
Maybe it’s because it is so easy to contact local officials as opposed to those who have lived in Washington and its suburbs so long they really aren’t that available to the local folks who elected them.
That’s why nearly every Monday we publish the contact information for your elected officials. We urge you to write them, call their offices, let them know what you think.
Getting back to Roy; one summer evening I was out, tooling around on my little scooter, and saw him outside in his yard.
I pulled up to him and we had a nice visit.
When was the last time you could do that with a President, U.S. Congressman or U.S. Senator?
Yes, I am sure there are true public servants whose offices are in Washington. It’s just that in the current political climate, it’s difficult to determine who they might be.