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 to 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 press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as 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 could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

It has been said that there are two types of elected officials – trustees and delegates.

Trustees try to use their minds and their experience to make good decisions once they win elective office.

Delegates believe they have been elected by certain folks and, thus, should do the bidding of those folks.

Of course, these definitions are generalizations.  Elected officials often act in various ways, not just one.

But one of best trustees I have known was the late Vic Atiyeh, the last Republican governor in Oregon, now more than 35 years ago.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I had the privilege of working for Victor, including as his press secretary, so I am a biased source.

He performed very well as a trustee, not concerned about his next election prospects, bur rather about what was best for “his “ state, Oregon.

I was reminded of this the other day when one of my friends, Jim Moore, an experienced Pacific University political scholar, wrote a blog about “delegates and trustees.”

Moore’s words are worth considering.

]”In the 18th century,” he wrote, “Edmund Burke had an idea that helps us to make sense out of the roles of those in elective office.  He posited that there were two models of behavior.

“First, the elected officer could be a delegate.  A delegate’s job was to carry out the wishes of the people as well as possible.  Back in the late 1700s, this was hard to figure out at times, but, in the 21st Century, a delegate would be reliant on polling of constituents, communications from voters, and, inevitably, the waves of ideas that spill out of social media.  A delegate stayed in office as long as the will of the people was carried out.

“Second, an elected officer could be a trustee.  A trustee’s job was to use judgment to deal with political questions.  The role of the electorate was to choose the officeholder with the skills and experience to weigh issues and make political decisions that were the best for the entire polity, regardless of how that polity thought at any particular time.”

In his article, Moore went on to enunciate a proposition, with which I strongly agree.  He lauded Atiyeh as a man of principle, believing himself to be a “trustee” of the public good, not just a “delegate.”

A key principle for Atiyeh was that he didn’t work to get credit for himself for doing good things in government.  He just wanted to be involved in the good things and let credit go where it goes, with no designs on claiming it.

What Moore wrote in conclusion:  “I don’t know what the future will bring, but my strong sense is that we need people like former Governor Vic Atiyeh to stand up, on either side, and take more trustee-like positions.  Vic (whose biography is sitting on the floor of my office awaiting even more cuts until it is shorter than 450 pages) made a decision before he even ran for his first office in 1958 — he would make governing decisions without considering what it would do for his chances at re-election.

“He did not follow this 100 per cent of the time, but he did it enough that he became comfortable being an outsider in the Oregon Legislature on many, many issues.”

Just think of what it would be like if we had more “trustees” like Atiyeh in government these days.  The fact is that we, as citizens, would see better decisions.  We might not always agree with the decisions, but they’d be better, not just linked to the latest poll.