R Garfield

I know why politicians are so easily accused of flip-flopping on the issues. It’s something I run into also, not as a politician, but as an appointee to various committees.

It’s a  scary thing, actually, when your work and ideas have an effect, and potentially an adverse effect, on others. Many times, you don’t know what the actual outcome of your work will be until after the fact.

That being the case, I – and others, including politicians – do the best we can with the information we have to accomplish the objectives we’ve been given – our “mandates,” if you will.

If that information unders a radical change of viewpoint – such as may be happening with the Scott County Strategic Planning Steering Committee – then you’re left with two choices:

1. Continue along the path you’ve been taking, knowing that the objective you’re working toward may not be the one that was intended; or,
2. Flip-Flop, taking the change of information you’ve been given as true, and worthy of consideration, even when it entails criticism and possibly, further work on something you’d like to see labelled as ‘finshed and done.’

It’s incredible to me that anyone would seek political office, or indeed, political appointment under such conditions.

What drives me, and many of my fellow voulteers, is the desire to see positive change come about in our communities. What frustrates me, and my fellow volunteers, is to work towards a goal only to either find out we’ve been working towards the wrong objective, or to see our work disregarded, and gathering dust in a forgotten tomb of good intentions.