Election season is underway, hopefully this is useful for those in office and those running for office. What are the key elements of any governing body? In my mind, it comes down to transparency and accountability. When both are present, they create a bidirectional trust factor, which is essential to the success of any government or business.
With full transparency and accountability, leaders can earn trust and, in turn, be trusted by the very people they serve. I have stated this many times and will continue to do so: in any major or controversial decision, elected officials owe it to the people they serve to ensure the public is fully informed of all the facts and, most importantly, that the people are on their side in the decision-making process.
When the people are on your side, they will have your back. And if you have their back, mutual respect is established. With that mutual respect, there is no limit to what can be accomplished.
I cannot stress this enough to any elected leader in our community: please make sure you have the support of the community before making highly controversial decisions. Doing so will spare both you and the community a great deal of frustration and potential recalls. That said, you cannot simply bow to the loudest or most vocal voices, as they may represent a minority drowning out the majority. Clear explanations of your intent, your reasoning, and the outcomes you seek are critical to gaining the support you need.
Full transparency does not always guarantee the community will be supportive in your efforts, but it does remove the serious accusations that could follow later. This serves as a proactive measure to prevent some of the more common tactics for removing elected officials. In the end, transparency builds legitimacy even when disagreement remains. After all, no elected official can please all the people all of the time.
