I wish I could survey reporters who cover political beats and ask them if they would prefer a part-time or a full-time legislature. It would be great to know if the actions of the press are actually driven by a motive or an unintended consequence.
Because make no mistake about it – Part time politicians are becoming an impossibility and the press is a big reason why.
City Council, School Board, Delegate, Senator – even Lieutenant Governor are mostly considered part time jobs. The expectation is that the elected official has some other job during the year and the measly salaries of officeholders is a stipend for service.
That expectation is becoming an impossible threshold for almost anyone to meet. It’s hard enough considering most employers aren’t willing to let an employee leave in January and come back in March every year, plus head to Richmond every month or so for various committees and commissions.
The press’ hyper-focus on finding corruption in every corner of the Commonwealth may push citizen legislatures right over the cliff.
Try being an elected official in today’s environment and keep your job. Companies once believed that having a public servant on staff was honorable and a public service. Now companies only see it as a ticket to the inevitable bad press coverage with accusations of conflicts of interest, ethics violations and corruption simply for holding a job.
And if the employer decides that press coverage is just too much of a risk (very common in today’s “no elected officials hired” policy of corporate America), try being an elected official looking for a new job. How many employers are willing to hire tomorrow’s possible negative headline? How many actually offer jobs for citizen legislators if AND ONLY if they’d resign from public service.
Plenty! Few if any companies even allow public servants to work for them.
So if you’re going to serve in office, you better be the boss of your own company, right?
Wrong. Even as the boss, you will sit and watch client after client walk from your company saying, “I don’t need the accusation of collusion and influence peddling in the paper.”
There is a chilling effect on even being associated with politicians in companies who don’t want or need the hassle of bad press or investigations calling attention to their firm with assertions of ethical misconduct.
And with the breadth of government today, there is hardly a career available that is free of government intrusion or regulation with great potential for ethical conflicts.
Let’s face it. When elected officials hold careers other than politics, everything becomes a potential conflict. A CPA legislator benefits from a complex tax code. A teacher legislator benefits from most education legislation. A doctor benefits from what health care rules are in place.
It’s getting to the point where the only fair answer will be pay full-time salaries to legislators both local and state level and keep them free of employment where the potential for conflicts of interests is ripe.
The press has the business community scared to death of being the next Johnnie Williams for having a politician on the payroll. What company wants to deal with attacks by the press and visits from the feds? What company wants the ethics of a private company challenged in the newspaper?
Basically, who needs the headache?
I know, I know. Who cares, right? Who has sympathy for politicians?
But as fewer and fewer people step up to run, through economic necessity, we just may have to end our tradition of citizen politicians and create a full-time, fully-paid political class free of conflict potential and free of any need for another career.
And guess who pays.
And I’m starting to think that’s the intent after all.
