Public Office Seekers

Stew Richland

Hello Mr. and Mrs. Century Village and all our residents around the globe.

Why do some people seek public office?

H.L. Mencken described politicians as "men who, at some time or other, have compromised with their honour, either by swallowing their convictions or by whooping for what they believe to be untrue."

I was shocked at how Dave Israel took advantage of his position as chair of the Executive Board to stoke his own ego by describing his achievements as UCO President.  First he rolled his head when Olga observed that there was an absence of a level playing field in UCO elections.  Then Dave countered with what he hoped would not be a  “self-serving”  description of his tenure as UCO President.  His Freudian slip of the tongue when he said that he was finishing up his “6^th term” was very telling.  He went to describe how difficult the job was, how much experience and knowledge it required. Dave said that to do the job one needed an historical perspective about Century Village. He opined that new people did not have this historical perspective, thus they could not qualify for the office of UCO president.

How does one acquire this historical perspective?  Dave acquired this gift like so many other UCO officers by volunteering, being appointed to committees, and then running for office.  UCO has had many Presidents and Vice-Presidents serving Century Village since its inception as a retirement community.  Every serving officer came from the ranks of volunteers and from the election process.  That is how candidates obtain historical perspective.  For Mr. Israel to imply that he, and only he understands this so called “historical perspective” will lead to his being given a seat next to Zeus on Mt. Olympus.

Dave Israel believes that the UCO President’s job is complex, and a real test of a person’s competence and intelligence and only he has these gifts.  This is an  example of a person  whose ego is so large that he truly believes that he knows better than everyone else and wants to impose his will on those who hang on to his coat tails.

What Dave also fails to mention that there are quite a few ex-UCO Presidents and Vice-Presidents that had been in office for many years.  Thus, based on Dave’s own criteria they also could fill the job of UCO President because they have the gift of “historical perspective.”

One more observation about “historical perspective.”  Part of the history of Century Village and UCO was the acceptance of term limits.  All past administrations adhered to this time honored tradition.  Then along comes Dave Israel,  a candidate running for office desirous to feed his large vanity because he wants to have some title and imagine that there is some illusory glamour in holding some lever of political power.

"Vanity remains to him," Mencken wrote, "but not pride." 

I wonder if Mencken was thinking about Dave Israel when he wrote this!!!!!