Laurels & lances: Different ways to lead
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Laurel: To serving your neighbors. It’s hard to find people to step up when it comes to public service. Everyone wants to blame the people who make the decisions regardless of the level of government. Local leaders don’t get the same kind of paycheck that state or federal officials do. Meetings are boring and time-consuming.
So municipalities can have trouble with engagement. The smaller the area, the harder it can be.
So the idea of participating at all is commendable. Doing it regularly is noteworthy. Doing it for 24 years is amazing. Ross G. Walker III has done just that. For 23 of those years, he has chaired the Upper Burrell Board of Supervisors.
He has done it by putting himself in his neighbors’ shoes when making choices for them. That’s a lesson that every elected official could learn.
Lance: To low blows. Some politicians can exist in a constant state of us-versus-them warfare. The very nature of the job can make that the easily traveled rut in the road. But it doesn’t make it right.
State Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Armstrong, did just that when he shared a post on Facebook mocking the looks of Dr. Rachel Levine, the former Pennsylvania secretary of health now pending confirmation as the federal assistant secretary. Levine has faced a great deal of ridicule and vitriol as a transgender woman.
Pyle did later issue an apology. But he wasn’t the first to take the cheap shot, and he doubtless won’t be the last.
Levine, like any public official, is subject to scrutiny. But take issue with her for politics or performance. Debate whether she has done a bad job or been saddled with an impossible task.
But leaders can never forget they are leaders — and you can’t lead by joining the lowest common denominator with this kind of personal attack.
Laurel: To remembering where you come from. Lots of people from small towns get famous or become successful but take off for wealthier pastures. But some make time to come home — even if it is virtually.
This week Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban took a digital trip back to Westmoreland County to speak with administration and management students at Penn-Trafford High School.
“The most important element is to get experience running a business that makes and sells real products, just as they are doing with their company at P-T,” said Cuban, whose started in technology sales and has branched into sports and entertainment.
The students design and sell apparel, with proceeds going to charity. Their real profit this time was invaluable insight from a billionaire whose business knowledge is ratings gold for “Shark Tank.”