Ahhh, the stench of May elections is in the air and I just couldn't resist pulling out my ol' political cartoon pens to take a stab at our "helpful" elected officials - with an obvious fire service twist, of course. This cartoon expresses two points; the first being that our elected public servants tend to steer the wagon they're sworn to empower (even when they're clueless to the desired direction), and secondly, this is nothing new.
My Department is fortunate that our city officials allow us to operate with minimal interference - a result of mutual respect, a solid history, and positive communication between both parties. This of course is contingent from one election to the next - but we've had a great run. Unfortunately, it does not take much research or talking with folks at events like FDIC before you realize that the situation is much, much, much worse in other areas.
I have always loved this quote by Groucho Marx, "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies". Regrettably, these are the horses trying to steer our steamers.
One of my all-time favorite quotes pretty much sums up my feelings on this month's commentary; "Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with the results" - George S. Patton.
