Cory Johnston is a member of the Clarkston City Council.

I was preparing to write an opinion on the difficulties of being an elected official.
How you must decide if it is better to vote what you think is right, or vote for what appears to have the smallest risk of litigation, which also may be right.
How is the publics? right to know affected by the rights of personal privacy and other protections granted by our Constitution and laws?
Does an attorney, who does not disclose who he is defending, present information with a bias meant to sway the public in favor of his client?
What is more important, how a decision is made or the decision itself?
How does one properly and politely suggest improvements that you know others may disagree with?
All weighty questions that I pondered seriously and thought that since this has been declared Sunshine Week, and attention is on openness in government, it would be timely.
But then I realized that the actions of no less an honorable body than the United States Congress and the President of the United States show how small these matters are in the big picture and what real power elected officials have.
I am sure it is no coincidence that Sunshine Week starts the same week as daylight savings time makes us change all of our clocks. Yes, politicians can change the very time the sun rises and sets. With a simple vote by a majority of members, and the signature of the president, they can decide how much sunshine we will have and when we will have it.
This was proven once again this last weekend.
I heard on the news, and I am not making this up, that this decree by our highest government officials will save energy.
Golf course owners stated to congress that they will make millions of dollars more because of increased playing time.
Barbecue and charcoal manufacturers stated they would also make millions due to increased outdoor cooking time.
Even candy makers told Congress that they would make money because Halloween would last longer and more candy would be sold.
I really did hear this on the news.
Well, I am only a council member in a small city and I don’t know how to change time. I still woke up this morning and it was dark. I had to turn on lights, make coffee, get the paper, and I still played dodge-em with the SUVs and pickup trucks on my morning drive.
I guess it takes more political experience than I have to take advantage of this legal proclamation. But I can see the potential. We all know that by mid afternoon we are just not as productive as we were in the morning.
Not a problem.
We just make 10 a.m. last from the old 10:00 to the old 12:00. America picks up two hours of additional work each day, 10 hours each week for every single worker.
We can show those foreign manufacturers what real productivity is all about.
We also save energy because we only spend eight hours doing what used to take 10. Now I know some of you are saying that would really be a 10 hour day.
First of all, you have not followed the law correctly. It states quite clearly when the day starts and ends, when the sun will rise and set, and that there is no change other than it being better and that daylight is being saved.
Saving is good.
But to appease the golfers, barbecuists and other recreational related activists, we also need to make the end of the day longer so that they do not lose any income.
Now, as I said, I do not how our Congress does this but they have proven they can and since this is a democratic country based on the will of the people, except for some wars and wiretapping, we could expand this and make it fair to all with a public vote.
You would just elect the official that provides you the time you need when you need it. Now there will be some that do not like this because they think they should have sole determination of when and how they work, when they wake up, and when they relax.
Others will say you we have no right to mess with the sun. Others will say, as I do, that you cannot change when the sun rises and sets.
That is a basic matter of astrophysics. Like any of us understand that.
There are also religious and cultural considerations that may also be protected by our constitution. As I said, I don’t know how to do any of this yet, but I am certain with enough hard work I too can learn how to take advantage of this, save energy, and make millions of dollars for my constituents.
Until then, I guess I will just have to be content with contemplating how to do my job and the day to day considerations that are part of life.
Perhaps I will focus on sunshine laws instead of daylight savings.
I might have a better chance of understanding that.