I am glad there are those who look for corruption in government. But power, too much power, even in the hands of those who are supposedly looking after the welfare of ordinary citizens can be a problem.
Sadly, someone at Common Cause is now looking at people in local government who have had various projects named for them. Curtis Adams, Tim Boyd and Warren Mackey are now targeted by these "watchdogs" for using their discretionary funds to provide buildings, benches or signs for schools in their districts.
And then, according to the "watchdogs" someone had the nerve to put that commissioners name on it.
Imagine that, a person elected to serve a district providing a much-needed and worthwhile thing for the residents of their district.
At a time when corruption is running rampant nationally, municipalities are spending more for companies to collect everything from sewer services charges to parking citations than the fees bring in, governors are selling senate appointments and Common Cause is worried about this.
Every school built since the 1920s has a bronze plaque listing the names of school board members and city or county government leaders who were instrumental in building that building. In a world overseen by watchdogs that would have never happened.
Ironically, John Gardner, who founded Common Cause, didn't object to his name being attached to the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and their Communities.
Ralph Miller