This is a guest post by a Delawareliberal reader
This latest State scandal, embezzlement of State funds, is yet another example of the lack of Government accountability in Delaware. People say they want transparent government? How about we make the job descriptions already in place effective? If your position is head of the State Hospital, you are actually responsible for checking on overtime, patient welfare, security, etc. If you are head of DelDot, you are actually responsible to make sure engineering plans and road projects make sense. If you are head of State Finance, keep an eye on the money going out.
Too many politicians and appointees revel in the glory of promoting new laws or new business. Its fun hanging out at Leg Hall hobnobbing with the big shots and letting the lobbyists know where their influence should be pedaled. Unfortunately, this ‘fun’ stuff apparently takes precedence over sitting in your office and paying attention to the state functions you were hired to manage. Where we need you is in your damn office doing the job you were assigned. You think Bill Gates ran Microsoft because he ran an election for leader? Bill Gates was and is Microsoft because he paid attention to the details of the business, and because he was qualified to manage what his delegates were doing every day.
Ever have an employee who constantly came up with great ideas, but never seemed to have time to do his or her job? Creative thinking is great, but if you were hired to watch the cash register, missing money will not be excused by you saying “I was thinking about a new advertising campaign promoting wind power and didn’t have time to do the job I was assigned.”
The day to day grind is not nearly as much fun as getting your name in the paper as an innovator and a mover-and-shaker. But, contrary to popular belief among government officials, government is not “show business for ugly people”. Do you job first, then if you want, go to Leg Hall and name drop. But do it on your time. Our time, the citizens’ time, is required by you to make sure someone didn’t build a pointless $30 million pile of dirt, or rack up $100,000.00 in unauthorized overtime on their state job, or take off with state money.
Go to work already, will you? If you want to bask in the glow of good publicity, go to Hollywood and avoid Britney Spears. If you want to bask in the glow of bad publicity, keep on thinking you’re a celebrity who doesn’t have to show up for work.
And one more thing; when something like a huge waste of taxpayer money occurs, we do NOT want to hear, “We’re all over it!” That doesn’t mean anything. What we want to hear is exactly what happened, what you are doing to fix it, and what you are doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Subjective exclamations of pending action only indicates to us, the taxpayers, that you have no idea what’s going on and that you hope it will go away before the next election. Skip the glamour politics; pay attention to your job.