Hatrack

“You’re taller than you look on television”, the cashier advises.  “And happier than I look in the paper”, I reply, bringing a smile.  Who knew buying a snack at the gas station would summarize my public life so neatly.  Just a random guy, walking in to conduct a minor transaction.  But there’s no sanctuary from the job, seemingly anywhere.  Not a complaint.  Just an observation.

The elevator opens in Colorado Springs and two twenty-somethings thank the City for the bike trails at Sunderbruch Park.  A hotel corridor in Virginia becomes a brief conference room when a developer sees you and asks about a zoning matter.  On a beach in Florida, someone shouts “hey, Craig ”, and the family vacation is momentarily a business trip.   You think you’re safe on an airplane leaving Pittsburgh for Washington D.C. when your row mate sits down next to you and says “I know you.  I watch that show”.  You try to convince him the City Council meetings of the early 2000’s were not a reality show.

It all adds up to a simple conclusion.  Be on your best behavior, more often.

So at Monday’s City Council worksession, I was sympathetic to Dee’s position.  Dee Bruemmer is the Vice President of the Figge Board.  She happens to be Scott County Administrator, and was Davenport Assistant City Administrator and Public Works Director before that.  She’s lived a life of public service in the community for decades.  She’s extraordinarily competent, worn too many hats to count over the years and has pulled off the trick of having a building named for her, while still breathing.  She’s more than earned her right to a private opinion on a public policy matter. 

Dee was the self-described “closer” of the Figge presentation.  She artfully recounted her personal passion for the City’s art collection now under the care of the Figge, and proffered a draft resolution for the Council’s consideration.

I could see it coming, because I had the same question a month earlier when we met.  An alderman asked whether the Figge had solicited support from Scott County.  Dee deferred, and noted she was at the meeting as a private citizen.  It was a perfectly reasonable reply, to a perfectly reasonable question.

But when you draw a public paycheck in any leadership position, private citizen is not a hat people recognize you in.