A 2009 New Year’s Resolution: Roll Up Your Sleeves, Hold Your Nose, Get Involved and Make a Difference!

By Mike Ferguson

Recently, my son asked me why I like working in politics so much. My answer surprised him.

“I don’t.”

I can understand why he was surprised. I’ve been working on campaigns, governmental committees and serving elected or appointed office for 13 years now. I covered politics as a news reporter before that. Since he is coming up on 13 years of age in about half a year, he’s watched me be involved in government and politics, literally, all his life.

I then told him that it is important that good people, with the right intentions, be involved in government and politics at all levels. If that does not happen, what’s left? The answer, obviously, is that self-serving and/or corrupt and/or incompetent people will still get involved and “make the rules”.

To paraphrase the cliché: you may not have an interest in politics, but politics takes an interest in you…and everyone else in your community, your state and our nation.

I understand that it is easy to be discouraged when it comes to politics and government right now. We are in a recession, unemployment is higher than it has been in years, our federal government continues the insanity of bailouts (over a trillion dollars and counting – on your and my tab) and it seems we cannot look at the news each day without being inundated with reports of yet another political scandal.

Rod Blagojevich (D-IL), Ted Stevens (R-AK), Eliot Spitzer (D-NY), Larry Craig (R-ID),  William Jefferson (D-LA) and Mark Foley (R-FL) are just a few of the many names involved in national politics associated with scandals over the past few years. Partisan label is no indicator of who is corrupt and who is not.

Local communities are not immune from problems, either. Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to jail over felony obstruction charges related to a sex scandal. Kansas City (MO) Mayor Mark Funkhouser is up to his neck in accusations, lawsuits and scandals (both aimed at him and his wife and from him towards KC City Council members). Being up to his neck is saying something, too, since he’s about 6’8” tall!

Scandals and corruption in politics and government, at times, seem to be so commonplace anymore that we no longer react with outrage and surprise. Instead, we roll our eyes and accept it as just a part of our governmental process and, as a result, part of our society.

Tragically, the headline news and politics of personal destruction that come from them discourage people from getting involved in our respective communities. It should not be this way and it does not have to be this way.

Does the political process corrupt decent, well-intentioned people or do crooked, ill-intentioned people naturally seek political power, corrupting the political process?  The answer is probably a little of both. Governing magazine’s Alan Ehrenhalt recently researched and wrote an excellent article about that question (http://www.governing.com/articles/0805assess.htm), so I won’t rehash the theories here.

The more important question is: what do we do about it?

The answer: resolve to be part of the solution at some level. Most people make New Year’s Resolutions, anyway, so why not add getting involved in your community to the list of things you promise yourself you will accomplish in the next year?

The next question is: how do we get involved?

To start, get in the right mindset and that is not one of despair. The past is permanent but the future is a blank slate; make the most of both. Learn from the past and build on it in order to create a better future.

Next, determine what you can influence in a positive way. That does not mean you have to sacrifice your sanity to take on emotional national or international issues that will make you risk losing your friends. For most of us, we can be a positive influence on our local communities. 2009 is one of those years where thousands of city council (or board of aldermen), water district, library board, fire protection district, school board and other positions will be elected. Most of these are non-partisan. Consider running for local office.

You do not necessarily need to run for office to serve in office, though. If the idea of assembling a campaign and asking for votes makes you uneasy, understand there are other ways to be involved. Many communities are having trouble finding people to fill all of the appointed boards and commission seats right now. Some committees meet monthly, some quarterly. Call your City Hall and ask for a list of vacancies in appointed positions and see if there is something that interests you. Usually, there is a minimal application and interview process involved. It’s typically not too inconvenient.

They are not headline-grabbing, glamorous political positions but they are the ones that directly affect people’s lives in some way. I can tell you from personal experience that there is a real sense of satisfaction that comes from working on successful and beneficial projects that come to fruition in your local community. This is also where it is easiest to stop bad ideas.

The absence of “we the people” being involved in government at all levels is the vacuum that allows the self-serving, power-hungry and otherwise unscrupulous to step in and damage a local community, state or the nation.

The best part of resolving to get involved is that you need not change your life in order to make a positive change. You do not have to singlehandedly fix our health care system, end pork barrel spending, end the war in Iraq, stabilize our economy or get the Missouri Tigers into the BCS Championship Game (although the last one would make the world a much better place).

Some people devote their lives to tackling issues bigger than themselves. I applaud them. I have taken on a few large political projects myself, including working in the upper levels of a Presidential campaign. I am not discounting the need for good people working at that level.

Realistically, though, when work, children’s activities at school, church and other aspects of your personal life prohibit your from correcting the stock market it is probably still possible for your to carve out a few hours once a month to help the Historic Preservation Commission, the Transportation Committee or the Library Board make sound financial and strategic business decisions.

I’m not asking you to build a brave, new world in 2009 or even to fix what we have now; I’m only asking that you make it a point this coming year to get involved and help remodel your corner of it. 

Mike Ferguson, the Producer and Host of “Missouri Viewpoints”, is a political & communications consultant and freelance writer. He lives in Grandview, MO where currently serves in two appointed offices and in one elected office.