Dear Editor:
When I was elected to the office of Brandon Township Treasurer one year ago, I was filled with optimism and hope, buoyed by my belief that not only could I do a fine job, but also that I was backed by trusted colleagues.
Today I find myself remembering with dismay a book I read years ago: ‘Why Leaders Can’t Lead.?
Unlike those in Warren Bennis? book, the obstacles to leadership in Brandon Township are more mundane. I came with skills and credentials from three decades of management at Ford Motor Company. I was ready for bureaucracy. I was ready for archaic methods. I was not ready for entrenched bad judgement and lopsided priorities. I was not ready for polarized, adversarial relationships.
When we lead, whether it’s Brandon Township or Washington D.C., we have to respect the people who put us there, the voters. We cannot treat them like children. We cannot base our budget decisions on ‘What the people like: i.e. a shiny new $95,000 swingset in the ill-conceived and poorly thought-out park, paid for with deficit spending.
The voters of Brandon Township are thoughtful and intelligent adults. They know times are tough. They know we have important issues to consider. The voters know that putting long-term township employees out on the street essentially to fund a swingset is grotesque.
They can understand that we must not continue to sink money we don’t have into a park they voted down three times. When we disrespect the people, we are not leading. We are babysitting.
When I was at Ford Motor Company, we had rip-roaring disagreements. We fought vigorously over multi-million dollar budgets, plant placements and product developments that affected hundreds of thousands of workers. Yet we always found a middle ground, we were transparent; we treated each other with respect.
With the lone exception of our township clerk’s last minute effort at a compromise budget, not one of these tools is in use at the Brandon Township offices.
We have to ask ourselves, ‘Why can’t we lead??
We cannot blame the people for our inability to lead; we can only blame ourselves.
Tyrone C. Beltramo, Treasurer