HISTORIC ISSUES
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Vol.17
No.2 - 7/15/1882 |
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Courtesy of the New York
State Historical Association Library, Cooperstown, N.Y (.PDF files)
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April 2009
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New York Canal Times -
Online newspaper
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Mercury Media Group
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Public servants set strong example
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The village of Richfield Springs has a new public servant, Diane Blackwell. As village of Richfield Springs clerk she has one goal. To succeed.
She is positive, eager to learn, willing to give 100 percent. It doesn’t matter if the task at hand is her responsibility. It doesn’t matter if the village clerk did it before her or not. If she sees something that needs to be taken care of, she will take care of it.
She praises the team she works with, from the women she shares her office with, to the trustees and Mayor John Garbera.
There are things that need to be done, and she is going to help do them. Whether it’s the need to make the office look more homey, or the need to learn something on the computer, or read minutes at the meeting, there will be no stopping Blackwell.
How refreshing to start with a clean slate. How refreshing to have a municipal body not entrenched in personal battles or skeletons hanging in the closet. How hopeful it is to have public officials working for the betterment of their community and not their own private agendas.
Last week, Garbera showed up in a suit for a photo opportunity with federal and state officials, looking every bit a mayor as Ed Koch or Rudy Giuliani. He stood beside Sen. James Seward and did the village proud. Beside him, two of his trustees supported him without a moment’s hesitation. Teamwork.
It’s a new dawning for the village since Garbera took the reigns. He works hard at keeping up with programs and making sure procedures are carried out properly.
Now with his new village clerk in place, the new regime can look to the future and move forward, bringing the village with them.
Other municipalities can learn from Blackwell and Garbera. Officials need to remember they are working for the good of their municipality, their constituents. If they cannot put 100 percent forward, shoot for 95 percent. The public would be happy if 90 percent of honest commitment was given.
True, town and village positions are part time, and the pay is not that good. But elected officials knew that going into the job. They knew the pay was low, but the hours are also minimal, unless you put forth more than is required. Sometimes that is needed in a public official.
Sen. James Seward spent last Wednesday baking under an unusually warm September sun while visiting with constituents at the farm show. He ended his day stopping by the village office for a photo opportunity with the mayor.
How many people are going to see that photo? How many people care if Seward was there? It doesn’t matter. Seward was there for his constituents. It doesn’t matter that there will not be a lot of constituents who see the picture or understand that he supports these efforts.
Whether it is one or 100, they are still his constituents. He works for them.
Too often our public officials forget that.
Blackwell and Garbera are on a mission, to bring this village alive again, get it working properly and ensure its future, fiscally and historically.
They should teach a public course at the high school in the evening entitled Public Service 101. They understand and live the meaning of “public servant.”
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