WORKING WITH, AND FOR, “BAD” POLITICIANS
By Tom O’Rourke
January 2023 Article #4 – 2023
I will start this post off by stating that there are many great politicians. I’ve been fortunate to have worked with many. I will also say that they all are not great.
I have found that politicians fall within one of two categories. There are politicians that serve those that they have been elected to serve, and then there are politicians that serve themselves. You need to find out which are governing you.
After a long career of working alongside various politicians I thought that I should take a shot at becoming a Council Member in my community. I ran, I won, and I served my 4-year term. I learned, rather quickly, that my personality, and skill sets aligned more with working with politicians and not really becoming one of them. I did not seek reelection and moved away from the world of elected public service. I do not consider my time as an elected official a waste of time. I saw government from a unique side that I have not experienced before. I have spent more than 9 years as a Director of a Municipal Recreation Department. I also spent almost 18 years as the Executive Director of a County Wide Park District that was a political challenge. Charleston County, where I worked, had 11 distinct Mayors and almost 100 elected Council Members, and they all had my phone number on speed dial. It is safe to say that with many of them changing every 4 years, I think I have seen it all.
I have found 10 realities or helpful hints if you are working within a political environment.
- DON’T EXPECT THE BAD ONES TO CHANGE: If you find a politician that only cares about themselves, they will most likely remain that way. You need to have policies, procedures, and handbooks prepared to ensure that they are staying within the framework of your agency. They will try to get their friends hired, jobs sent to people they want to receive the work, and special funding allocations going their way. Your policies and procedures are your protection.
- POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS ARE GETTING WORSE AND THAT TREND WILL CONTINUE: Now that elected people are at the 24/7 disposal of their constituents through email and social media there will be more contact with you. It would be impossible to do your job if you were forced to respond to every single inquiry that politicians get from the public. I would recommend a procedure, or at least some understanding as to how you will address complaints that politicians get. I have found that politicians just want their constituents to be happy. Many times, they don’t even want to deal with the problem, they just want the credit for having it fixed. Let the politician know that you want to handle this and ask if you can contact the complainant directly. You will find that, most of the time, the person just doesn’t understand.
- PROTECT YOURSELF: Document correspondence, save emails, and try not to meet alone with any politician that you do not trust. Also, have their requests that you think are questionable become a public agenda item, in a public meeting, that the media will be covering. That will fix a lot.
- CREATE A HABBIT OF “ALL ELECTED PEOPLE GET THE INFORMATION”: Get into the habit of responding to a question by one politician to all your elected body. Once the “bad” politician knows that this is the way you do business it could stop unreasonable, or illegal, requests.
- BE CAREFUL HOW YOU COMMUNICATE: Always remain professional. Do not gossip about a “bad” politician, it will get back to them almost every time.
- GENERALLY, TREAT ALL OF YOUR ELECTED PEOPLE THE SAME: What I really wanted to write was, “Do not have your favorite politicians.” It is human nature to want to be around those you like and stay away from those you don’t. You must make sure that all politicians are getting equal attention.
- DON’T GET INVOLVED IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNES: Politicians “usually” are aware that you should not endorse candidates. I know political entities where department managers were required to go to political functions of a sitting mayor. This is an area where you must tread lightly. The only time this could be accepted is if your current mayor, or manager, appoints you in your position.
- IF YOU HAVE A CITY/COUNTY MANAGER BETWEEN YOU AND THE POLITICIANS, KEEP THEM INFORMED: If you work for a city or county manager, I promise you, they know who the bad and good politicians are. If you are getting requests to do what you shouldn’t by a “bad” politician, you need to inform your city/county manager. Most of the time, they have different relationships with the elected people and may be able to help.
- THIS TOO SHALL PASS: Do not let your personal life, or your health be negatively affected by the actions of a “bad” politician. As I have written before, if your think your present position is not working for you, go find another job. Live is too short. If you decide to stay in a tough position, space out your annual leave days to get a break. Maybe once a quarter you can take a Friday and a Monday and get 5 days with no phone and the peace of mind of having your own time.
- COMPROMISE WORKS: Sometimes you might just have to give a little. I am not saying you compromise your integrity or honesty, but you don’t have to win 100% of your battles all the time. Creative compromising is an important skill and will serve you well.
In the end, remember that dealing in uncomfortable discussions, or unpleasant discussions with a “bad” politician, is not as bad as NOT dealing with them. You have to manage these relationships, they cannot be ignored.