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Competence trumps
tenure
That’s my Opinion
By Bob Robinson
Editor
For those of you who wish to attend, there will be a funeral Monday at
4:15 on Courthouse Square in Dayton.
“Putting People First” will be mourning the death of Ohio. According to
Shawn Cassiman, a social work professor at the University of Dayton,
“It (Ohio) is on life support and is hurdling towards death.”
He is correct. I’m not sure anyone would take issue with that
statement… certainly not me. However, if you take the Dayton Business
Journal article in context, you might want to re-evaluate the
statement. I did.
Is the “funeral” taking place because our taxes and business
regulations are killing us? No. It is taking place because Gov. John
Kasich and the Republican legislature are trying to revive us.
I should have known better. Those who want to keep the status quo –
asking government to continue taxing us at higher levels to make up for
a shrinking tax base and increasing appetites – have no legitimate
grounds on which to base their arguments.
So they hold “funerals” or other forms of demonstrations. When an
individual or entity is “bloated,” the common sense solution is to go
on a diet. No one will tell you it won’t be painful. It will. But it is
preferable to bankruptcy.
I’ve lived in Ohio a little over nine years. I watched the Taft
Administration develop a cavernous appetite for dipping into the public
trough. The night that Ted Strickland and the Democrats took over the
reins of Ohio, a friend told me “you guys blew it… give us a chance
now.”
Okay. They got their chance. Spending continued to increase as income
continued to dry up. The last biennium budget was balanced by
“shifting” spending to a different budget, billions of dollars in
one-time “rainy day” and “stimulus” funds, and a tax increase.
It was a formula for disaster… an $8.4 billion disaster.
There are many “problems” in Columbus – bureaucracy, regulations, high
taxes, duplicate and overlapping agencies, political paybacks and more
– too numerous to mention. Kasich and his team are trying to address
them despite the flack they receive from those who don’t want to lose
their piece of the pie.
“Putting People First” mentioned two reasons for Ohio’s demise: Loss of
services to Ohio’s “most vulnerable” and Senate Bill 5.
I’m not sure who they refer to as “most vulnerable.” I would like to
have more details with specific examples of how any one segment of our
society is going to “hurt” any more than the rest of us. So far, all
I’ve heard is rhetoric.
Despite our “problems,” we still have the most affluent society on the
face of the earth at all income levels. Many of those on one form or
another of state or federal subsistence – though I acknowledge not all
– have iPods, flat screen TV’s, cable and plenty of beer and cigarette
money. Find that in the literal definition of poverty.
The big thing, however, that irritates me is the tunnel-vision attack
on Senate Bill 5. Does it have problems? Sure. Any legislation written
by imperfect human beings is going to be imperfect to some extent. For
instance, our legislators need to look closely – very closely – at any
portion of it that will impact our First Responders and Educators.
Government’s constitutional mandate is protect its citizens (not coddle
them). First responders are on the front lines against the events or
people that would do us harm. And right or wrong, states and
municipalities have taken over the education of our children, from the
kindergarten level through higher education at our public colleges and
universities. Our children are the future of our society. What could be
more important?
There are two words that have become entrenched in these areas, and
they go against the very grain of what our society was built on. Taken
as absolutes, they are probably the two most destructive areas
impacting all government institutions. These words are “seniority” and
“tenure.”
I’m not going to argue benefits and salaries of unionized public
employees. From my humble perspective, all citizens are equal under the
law. This means that while “life” is not necessarily fair, public
employees are no better or worse than those in the private sector. They
should share in the bounty of good times, and suffer the sacrifices of
the hard times. Just like the rest of us.
I am, however, going to argue the concept of holding onto a job just
because you’ve been there forever. In the private sector you hold onto
your job because you know how to do it and, theoretically, do it well.
Why should the taxpayer have to support a system in which longevity and
incompetence is rewarded at the expense of our youngest and brightest?
For example, Monday is a work day. Did you and I pay for Prof. Cassiman
to organize his “funeral?” How many others on “my” payroll will be
there? I’d be interested in finding out.
Competence and performance trump seniority and tenure any day of the
week.
That’s my opinion. What’s yours?
Feel free to respond to this article at countynewsonline@gmail.com
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