PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

I have thought a lot about this issue lately as we have watched dysfunction and disagreeability mark our national and state public policy debates.

Perhaps this is one effect of having elected an immature, dysfunctional person, Donald Trump, as president. During his campaign and his election, political debate has done nothing but degenerate into personal attack.

We no longer expect public policy results. We expect dysfunction.

While we watch the national political system slide into mediocrity, Democrats and Republicans at the State Capitol in Oregon have done better than their “colleagues” in the Nation’s Capitol, but still appear to dislike each other personally, a fact that has blocked a number of otherwise-attainable public policy achievements 

So, perish the thought, but if I was ever elected to public office, here are traits I would hope would mark my service and, if you read them closely, you will note that, in some ways at least, they use different words to make the same point.

Put simply, we need mature leaders who will work for the public good, not their own aggrandizement, especially not just their own next election.

• The ability to work to find middle ground

This ability is too often missing in our political system. Persons get elected to espouse their own principles, which is understandable and appropriate on one hand, but which can get out of hand on the other.

If standing on principle means there is no middle ground, that is a prescription for what we have seen — stalemate and dysfunction. It’s like folks yelling on a street corner just to make sure their own views are known; they don’t care about others.

It takes a special person to espouse middle ground. And, it even takes more supreme qualities to be a person who can lead others to middle ground solutions.

It should be added that, despite apparent dislike for each other, Democrats and Republicans in the Oregon Legislature found way toward middle ground on a few issues in the still-current legislative session. However, they could not do so on the biggest issue – a balance between budget cuts, especially with regard to the Public Employee Retirement System, and increased corporate taxes.

On the positive front, legislators appear poised to pass a transportation funding package. It is a compromise, so no one will like all parts of it, but it does the job of providing new resources to fix roads and bridges, and fund mass transit.

• The ability to assure that your word is your bond

If this is not true, you are sunk as an elected official. So, mean what you say. And say what you mean.

If you say something once, then have to change your mind based on new information, report the change, an action which will buttress your own credibility.

I found this to be true during my career as a lobbyist and it should also be true for elected officials.

• The ability to disagree agreeably

This used to be a phrase to describe the Oregon Legislature. It was a “citizen legislature” – still is, I suppose – where elected officials with lives outside the Capitol knew how to stand for something, but avoid denigrating those on other sides.

In many ways, the phrase these days could be “the ability to disagree disagreeably.”

[As Donald Trump might tweet, astride his habit of using only small words, often inexactly, “Not nice.”]

• The ability to emphasize your own principles without denigrating others

This is another way of making a similar point, but I include this to indicate that there is nothing wrong with having principles and standing by them if you are an elected official. But, standing on principle should not be the last word. It should be a means to the end of finding agreement with others in order to make progress on achieving public good.

This is, put simply, the ability to see issues from other perspectives, not just your own.

• The ability to handle the public responsibility with an air of humility, not exalted ego

It’s not possible to write about this point without confirming that Donald Trump is the antithesis of this trait. To him, everything is personal. It seems he cannot operate without taking offense.

I found this quote on the Internet the other day:

“Our country was founded on the principle that the ultimate power of government rests in the people. The lesson is clear. Elected officials are not important people. What is important is that they represent the people.

For just a minute, think about that. If those who represent us conducted themselves as if they were serving us – yes, representing us – consider how much better our government would be.

The elected official who best illustrated this humble trait was the last Republican governor of Oregon, Vic Atiyeh, for whom I had the honor of working. One of his favorite sayings, was this: “The issue is not who gets the credit for doing good work. It is doing the good work itself.”

To Victor – he allowed those of us who worked for him to call him by that name, though I usually resorted to just calling him “governor” – this was critical. He led Oregon during tough times economically and he did so with an unusual combination of skill and humility, not worrying about who got the credit.

My reciting of the marks of good public officials tends to add up to one point: We need mature and reasoned public officials who will lead us and make solid decisions in our behalf. And, when we see the good traits, we ought to admire them and keep those good folks in office working for ALL of us.