I’m almost done painting the house.  I would have been finished by now, except for the fact that we had to reconcile two different painting techniques.  My wife believes in scraping off all the old, loose paint and then putting on several thin, carefully applied coats.  My theory is that if I glob the paint on in a thick enough layer, it will form a protective bubble that will help hold the house up despite the rotten boards, and the old, loose paint will just exist, sight unseen, inside the bubble. 

Since I’m trying to be easier to get along with, I’ve been pretending that her point of view has some merit. That means my paint progress has been slowed by the necessity of replacing the worst of the rotten boards.  And, because the NEW part of the house is almost a hundred years old, deciding what’s rotten and what isn’t is kind of a judgment call.

The work has given me lots of time to think.  For instance, I was thinking about a TV show I watched about a fictional TV producer explaining her rules for deciding which shows to put on the air.

The reason I said “fictional” TV producer is that from what I see of TV programming, I don’t think there are any rules.  This fictional producer’s rules were: Would my parents watch this show?  Would I?  If I had children would I let them watch?  If the answer to any of those questions was “yes,” she considered putting it on; if the answer to all three was “no,” she wouldn’t.

It made me think, because I’ve been a county commissioner for five years now, and every month I’m part of many decisions – some big ones and many not so big.  The majority of the decisions that involve spending the taxpayer’s money are things you want to do - more money for kids, for the county fair, better roads and economic development.  The problem is that there just isn’t enough money for everything.  It’s like trying to put your kids through college, save for retirement, and book an around the world cruise at the same time.  This time of year, when we’re putting the budget together, is a little like spending an evening answering the phone when telemarketers for every worthy cause in the world know you’re at home.

Of course, it’s not exactly like that, because we’re spending other people’s money; we really shouldn’t do anything whimsically.  What are my rules?  Well, after giving it some thought I came up with: Is it fair to the people who pay taxes?  Does it help the average citizen?  Does it make this a better place to live?  If the answer to any of those questions is “yes,” I think it should be considered.  If the answer to all of them is “no,” probably not.

What makes things really interesting is that there are five commissioners and I’m guessing that we have all developed our own slightly different rules.   We also need to factor in the state and federal mandates set up by people with their own sets of rules, and, of course, all our citizens weigh in with what they think is important. The whole process is complicated and frustrating and fascinating.

Just something I’m thinking about while I’m busy building a paint bubble to hold up my house.

Copyright 2010 Brent Olson
            
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