For all the controversy over the Augusta County School Board maintaining insurance benefits for its own members even as it has cut them for the school system’s part-time employees, the real outrage should be the relatively lavish pay and benefits our elected officials vote for themselves across the board in the first place.
Granted, the men and women who hold elected offices local, state and federal work hard at what they do. But, hey, nobody holds a gun to their heads and makes them, right? The people who put their necks out there to represent us on town and city councils, boards of supervisors, school boards, the General Assembly and Congress are a self-selected lot.
Of course we want the best people for the thankless job, but do we really need to sweeten the pot to attract the best and brightest by making available to those who submit their names for consideration the best possible income and benefits packages?
And as far as retention, hey, I think most of us would agree that while we want good people for these jobs, and can benefit from having at least a few people in office who have experience in handling matters of public policy and administration, there’s also something to be said for having people in the mix who can bring a fresh perspective.
You make the pay and benefits too good, and you’re going to have people who are going to want to linger on in office just for the perks.
Nobody should be in elected office because it can become a way to pay the bills. That runs against the principles that our country was founded upon.
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Chris Graham
