Inside and out

I wonder if every career bureaucrat dreams of holding elected office?

I'm speaking of those appointed county administrators, city managers, and their assistants.

After all, both Congressman McHugh and State Senator Wright started out in the field of government administration before becoming elected officials. For those of you who don't know, Wright succeeded McHugh in the NY Senate. McHugh's first job was as Watertown's Assistant City Manager, while Wright was County Administrator in both Oswego and Jefferson Counties before being elected to the Senate.

Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine was a farmer when he was elected to his current postion. As an outsider to the system, he arrived in Albany at a disadvantage compared to system insiders. Under the tutelage of more experienced leaders, and through his own initiative, he has become an effective leader. It seems sometimes as though insiders would like to make it seem impossible for outsiders to understand or negotiate that maze called government. Maybe they would prefer to have elected government composed entirely of career professional politicians who have never worked in the real world.

Hey, our party has a number of career politicians too. I've never been entirely in favor of term limits, but I can see how stagnant leadership can get after 20 or 30 years at the public trough.

I can't speak for the founding fathers, or what their choice would have been in this matter, since there were no career politicians around at the founding of our republic. I can only state that I believe that we will have a more democratic government when we elect more doctors and teachers and lawyers and engineers to public office, and fewer bureaucrats.