Our local government, at work!
Don't look now, but the City of Hillsboro is working, even without a city administrator.
On second thought, go ahead and look:
You'll see police officers still safeguarding our streets, and lab technicians still processing water for our taps.
Sanitation workers working in the freezing cold, taking our trash away; snowplow drivers throwing down sand and salt, on call night and day.
The numbers still are being crunched in the clerk's office at City Hall, and when you have a question about your utility bill, dedicated staff still are ready to take your call.
The city is at work. Even without a full-time boss.
Since Steve Garrett's dismissal Jan. 24, Mayor Delores Dalke and the four-member Hillsboro City Council have shouldered some of the city administrator's responsibilities.
But, just as we would hope, the biggest burden has been borne by the city's 27 employees themselves. The mayor says it's "amazing," the way the department heads are coming through, "doing what they need to do."
Just as we would hope, but not what we expect, right? Not in this day and age, when the phrase "government worker" seems to be a contradiction in terms.
We've heard the jokes.
Q: "What's the difference between the government and the Mafia?"
A: One of them is organized.
That's why its so refreshing to hear that, at least in Hillsboro, our government workers, from department heads on down, are working, without supervision.
Not that we're surprised.
We expect City Clerk Jan Meisinger to be hard at work, even with the office vacant next to hers, because that's the kind of person she is. And Morgan Marler is running the water plant; Mike Duerksen is in charge of the electric and sewer; Dan Kinning is chiefing the police; Kenneth Karlson is in charge of sanitation, and Martin Rhodes is providing leadership wherever needed.
Until the mayor thanked them in a Page One story this week, these department heads have actually been doing government work without recognition.
Not that we're surprised.
There's a story a coach once told me about what happened when a thoroughbred and a mule lined up for a match race.
At the bell, the thoroughbred rider spurred his mount, and the horse ran like the wind, giving him all he had.
The rider of the mule spurred his mount, too, but the mule kicked and bucked and threw its rider on the ground.
The coach's point was that you can tell a lot about who someone really is by watching how he or she responds when spurred by challenging situations.
Certainly, the absence of a city administrator has created a challenge for Hillsboro's officials and employees. As complex as municipal governance has become, there's no doubt that we need to find a replacement as soon as possible.
But in the meantime, it's refreshing to learn that everyone has been so eager to help fill the gap left when Garrett was dismissed.
In fact, while a Range Rider still is needed to help manage the city's ongoing improvement projects, the mayor is confident that the city's department heads can handle the day-to-day.
"I am so proud of those people," she said. "This group is just amazing the way they are coming through, helping me; explaining things. I never, ever could have imagined that they would take over so well.
"Everybody is stepping up and I'm really, really proud of them."
As for us, our money is on the Hillsboro officials and employees to keep up this winning pace from wire-to-wire, until a new city administrator is found.
— GRANT OVERSTAKE
