Essays From West of 98: It Is Always Personal (Reprise)

Local government is deeply personal and that's worth embracing

Welcome to new readers and subscribers to West of 98! Once a month, I write a newsletter called The Prairie Panicle, which rounds up the last month’s writing and my read/listen/watch recommendations. You can read the latest edition here.

The following was an essay I wrote about this time a year ago. It’s one of my favorites I’ve written about the importance of good local government. I’ve got about 50% more subscribers than I did 12 months ago, so I hope my new and old readers alike enjoy it.

Stay tuned, as I am working on a major piece of writing about the future of the USDA and farm policy in America. It’s not quite ready for publication, but I hope it will be worth the wait.

“Business is always personal. It’s the most personal thing in the world.”

--Michael Scott

Let’s give credit where credit is due: Michael Scott had more wisdom than we thought. In seven seasons on “The Office” as manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc., Michael made some horrifying management decisions. He was an HR nightmare, constantly causing problems with and between employees with inappropriocity (a word he coined in an episode that I find to be quite useful).

And yet, at his core, he was a deeply caring human. He wanted people to love him and he wanted to love other people. He wanted friends and a family to care about. He did not always express this love properly, and he should have gone to counseling for issues that stemmed from childhood trauma and abandonment, but dadgummit, the man cared.

One of my favorite episodes is “Business School” in the third season. This is the same episode where “don’t be an idiot” was revealed as powerful advice that more public servants should hear. In it, young know-it-all employee Ryan Howard invites Michael to speak to one of his business school classes. It’s not exactly a show of respect. Ryan gets extra credit for bringing his boss to class and based on the topic of the class (technology and business), he knows Michael will be humiliated. Sure enough, Michael is ambushed. He’s peppered with questions by MBA students about the doomed nature of the paper business. He storms out angrily, but not before unleashing some brilliant one-liners like “you cannot learn from books” and “real business is done on paper.”

Afterwards, Ryan attempts to apologize, thinking he’s about to be fired. He tells Michael “it wasn’t personal” and Michael responds that business is always personal. More business leaders could stand to be like this, as they ignore the humanity and dignity of workers in the name of “efficiency.”

It is also how I feel about local government.

This is not an endorsement of large-scale government as your “friend” or any gobbledygook like that. Rather, this is one of the biggest lessons I have learned in my tenure as mayor of a small town. Much of state and national government is bureaucratic, impersonal, and far removed from its effects on everyday life. People who make these large-scale decisions rarely live among the people who are affected by the decisions.

At the local level, lives are impacted on a direct daily basis and the leaders deal with the direct consequences of those decisions in their own lives. Water service, sewer service, streets, and trash collection are essential aspects of daily life. When those services have issues, be it a pothole, a water/sewer leak, or a missed trash pickup, the effects are noticeable. This is deeply personal to people, especially when those issues disrupt their daily routines, their personal lives, or their businesses. And as a local leader, it becomes deeply personal and troubling when those problems arise. Even when the problems are caused by an issue outside of your control, like unpredictable weather or ancient pipes that have had leaks growing for decades, it is still personal. You still feel it when your own life is affected. You especially feel it when other people are affected and you cannot immediately solve the problem for them.

My disdain for state and national politics is mushrooming and I think this is part of the reason why. When I look at the political landscape, I see a whole lot of talking to generate clicks, fundraising, and re-election campaigns. It is full of personal attacks, but it is not treated as personal. It is a coldly-calculated business of accumulating, retaining, and expanding power.

On the local level, government and politics are deeply personal. It is the most personal thing in the world. Lives are impacted each day for good or bad. It can be stressful to realize the gravity of its impact, but it also underscores the importance of running for local office. When you embrace the personal nature of local government, you will realize just how much it truly matters.

James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and the “Rural Church and State” and “West of 98” podcasts. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to him wherever podcasts are found. Check out the West of 98 Bookstore with book lists for essential reads here.