Leaders, Influence, Power, Integrity & Accountability

There are leaders of countries ranging in size from the huge (like China) to the very small (like Tibet). Some lead through sheer power - force, maybe even through fear combined with power and force. Others lead through integrity - the force of what is right even against tremendous adversity created through the force and fear of larger powers.

Some people are elected to positions of leadership; others are appointed. Some fulfill the duties and responsibilities of those positions honorable. Others fail - some through no fault of their own; others because they forgot their duty to the people who entrusted them to be honorable with the authority that comes with the position of leadership.

Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." (I think he probably would have included good women, too.) There are various shades of evil, just as there are various gradations in the progression from white to black - from red to pink. Check out the paint colors at Lowe's or Home Depot if you doubt that statement. So it is realitively easy to slip from one shade to the next, especially if distracted or constantly feeling beaten down by surrounding forces or factors. And that's how Integrity is lost and shades of evil succeed.

Here in Maine we celebrate Josuha Chamberlain. Right here we have a statue of him up on the bluff before going across the (old, now new) bridge under construction into Bangor. We have the other bridge named for him near the Muddy Rudder restaurant. We even have a County named for him. Josuha Chamberlain was a leader of influence and integrity who felt accountability. He was also a teacher, born in Brewer, Maine, who taught, at one time or another, every course at Bowdoin College. On this Memorial Day (Rememberance Day) we should remember he is also credited with saving the battle of Gettysburg for the Union, leading his men to continue to fight when they had no more bullets for their guns with such committment through an on-going battle that they drove the Confederate soldiers from what would have been a certain victory.

He was not a petty man. His actions were not for his own personal gain - nor for any desire for any acquisition of personal power, neither on the battlefield nor in the classroom. He simply had a sense of doing what was right for his students, for the men who served under him and looked to him for leadership and direction, to serve his state honorably and to preserve the union. And his men, respecting his leadership and integrity, followed him.

So now here we are today - with people who, while having the benefits of those men's sacrifices, have forgotten the standards of what it takes to keep this country strong against division and diversion. We have been a mighty nation, but right here in our own towns (Eddington, Clifton and Holden) we are a collection of good men and women who (for the most part) do nothing. No one attends local Selectmen's meetings to hold accountable those in the seats of power of government. No one (except for three or four people out of all three towns) attends School Board meetings to hold the Board or Interim Superintendent accountable. Less than thirty people (other than five Board members and the Interim Superintendent) attended the Public Meeting to review the proposed school budget for next year to hold the Business Manager or Board accountable. I am not saying these elected men and women are evil. I am saying that even after being elected, it is the responsibility of the voters - WE THE PEOPLE - to monitor our government's actions and for us to be informed, especially when we are being impacted by the actions of those elected bodies - and paying for their actions.

For those individuals who will show up June 4 at the Holbrook School at 7pm to vote (with a show of hands) or June 9th at their Town Offices to vote by paper ballot - the vast majority will not even know what is in the budget. Those who will show up on June 4th will be mostly the teachers and district employees who will vote to get whatever money they think they should have in their pockets (including contract extensions and pay raises even while taxpayers are loosing their jobs and homes) and parents who only think they need to vote for the budget to ensure their children's educations - not realizing how much of the budget is unaccounted for.

For those individuals who will show up June 9, very few will have even picked up copies at their Town Offices of the proposed budget - much less been able to understand it because that's the way the Business Manager has written it (without footnotes or explanations - especially regarding salaries and benefits for Central Office personnel).

And the School Board and Interim Superintendent has allowed this - permitted this - endorsed this. So, where is the leadership? Who has the influence - the taxpayer or the School Board or the Interim Superintendent or the Business Manager? Where is the Power? It should be with the taxpayer voters but it won't be if they don't become informed and Vote. And last but not least - Where is the Integrity and Accountability of the School Board? We will see when it is time for each one of them to show their individual votes on June 4. Maybe that alone is reason for the people of Clifton, Eddington and Holbrook to attend that meeting because there are plenty of reasons to vote NO on this budget. (Need to know those reasons? Read previous blogs posted today or during previous weeks.)