Published: May 06, 2008 07:38 pm            

The mayor’s office is a “Bully Pulpit”

All things come to him - or her - as the case may be, who waits. Ada City Councilor Barbara Young may have been Monday’s living embodiment of that proverbial saying. It was then, at Ada City Council’s swearing in ceremony, that Young was unanimously chosen mayor following Vice-Mayor Roger Cupps’ nomination and Councilor Dick Scalf’s second.

Young has waited a long time for this honor.

Ada’s is not a “strong mayor” form of government. Here, like many other cities, the city manager and city workers take on the day-to-day responsibilities of ensuring water we take for granted continues to flow, garbage is picked up when we expect it to be, and other city services continue to provide the quality of living to which we have become accustomed.

In a form of government like Ada’s where elected city council positions are not paid except with long hours, hard work and complaints from residents who perceive progress on a certain project affecting them is not going fast enough – one sometimes wonders why anyone would run in the first place or be glad when elected.

All city councilors have outside paying jobs or other financial arrangements that put food on their respective tables. As concerns those other paying jobs, it is a true statement that no one ever gained any business by running for city council.

Why do they do it? The answer lies in the concern each has for Ada and its future.

As for the Ada mayor’s position, it is best understood as a Teddy Roosevelt style “Bully Pulpit” in which much can be accomplished by force of personality and working with others.

Young has proven herself a city councilor who carefully examines issues and makes the most informed decisions possible. This year she will be given the chance to exercise her considerable abilities from the perspective of the mayor’s “pulpit.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.