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Anticipation at New Challenge
Posted
11-23-1999
It is now nearly three weeks since the election and the effect of the
results is beginning to sink in for the candidates and in the world of
politics in Westmoreland County. Candidates, who for a long time have been
campaigning, now must focus on governing, or in the case of Al Bell and Tony
Marsili, taking the Bench. I know it is an exciting time for them.
There is so much anticipation
about taking new and challenging jobs. For Al and Tony, it has to be like a
dream come true. When my wife was elected Judge in 1991, she had not
considered running for very long before entering the race. So while there
was excitement between the election and taking office, there wasn't years of
anticipation. Both Al and Tony have been working at this for years and
success must really be sweet. Tom Murphy has also been through the process
before and I'm sure he also really appreciates the fulfillment of winning.
Other newcomers like Tom
Ceraso, Scott Conner, and Chris Scherer have been successful in their first
try. It will be such a sweeping change in their careers their feet might not
touch the ground for a while. There will be tremendous challenges ahead for
the new Board of Commissioners and Chris in running the Sheriff's
Department. I have only half joked with them that they would see, the
campaign was the easy part, governing is the hard part.
Losing is never any fun and I
sympathize with candidates that didn't come out on top. I've been through
campaigns with close friends that didn't succeed and the disappointment
really hurts. Elections are like sporting events, someone wins and someone
loses. The tough part about campaigns is, you don't always get a rematch.
Every candidate should hold his or her head high. It really takes courage to
put your name on the ballot and I don't care if it is for borough council or
president, getting involved is what matters.
What scares me most is that
less and less people want to face the challenges of politics and we really
must change people's attitudes toward elected officials. It is too easy to
say all politicians are the same and I know the challenge lies with us in
public office to change that attitude. It won't happen over night, but day
by day we must do what is right for the public and restore people's trust.
Doing what is right for all citizens is the true purpose of public service
and if we stick to that simple objective, I think slowly people will trust
their governments again. |
