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 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.

As someone with too much time on hands, I tend to follow either of two pursuits:  First, golf, my favorite sport, or, second, thinking about public policy.

Well, there is another one – functioning as the vice president for garbage pick-up and lawn maintenance at the house where I live in Salem, Oregon.

For public policy, my thoughts have gone lately to the kinds of qualities I appreciate in those who hold elective positions.

This has not been motivated by anything I have read.  It’s just my independent thoughts, some of them gleaned during my 40 years of service in and around state government in Oregon.  A few of them were highlighted during the recent mid-term election.

So, with that election in the rearview mirror, at least mostly, here is my list of top credentials.

• An elected official who knows what he or she knows and what he or she doesn’t know.  [I remember several officials, especially in health care, who thought they knew every answer to every question, so only had to propose pieces of legislation, not work with those who cared about the issue as much as they did.]

• An elected official who practices a lost art in politics these days – listening.  [One of my partner in business put it this way:  God gave you two ears and one mouth, so spend twice as much listening as talking.]

• An elected official who stands on principles that got them elected, but does hold them in a closed fist, thus being willing to listen to the perspectives of others because “no one has the right answer to everything.”

• An elected official who, when there is not agreement on a direction on a particular policy bill, will work to find middle ground, which is often where the best solutions lie anyway.  And, if there is no clear middle ground, perhaps the best solution is not to pass anything.

• An elected official who will ask two questions now not often asked by those in government:  (1) Is a government program the best way to deal with this issue, and, if the answer is “yes,” (2) how can the program be designed to achieve its objectives in measurable form?

• An elected official who listens to anecdotes, but does not propose policy in respect to just those anecdotes, which may not reflect the accurate picture.

• And, an elected official who will value honesty above all else.

Thoughts such as these at least were in the back of my mind as I voted a few weeks ago.

I hope we see these kinds of credentials in action, not just in campaign promises.