
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 24, 1995                   TAG: 9507240128
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MICHAEL M. FOREMAN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ELECTED OFFICIALS WORK FOR THE PEOPLE

A COPY of your July 15 editorial ``Courthouse crowd clings to the past'' was forwarded to me, a member of the courthouse crowd, by another member of the same group. I think the sender was offended, but I was delighted to learn that the editorial writer of your newspaper is the same as all writers in that he/she has mastered all knowledge in all areas of human endeavor, knows what form of government is the best, what constitutions should and shouldn't say, and who is the most capable to serve in any public position.

It's ironic that the editorial comes at a time when the clamor from Washington to Richmond to Roanoke is to curb bureaucracy and return government to the people. Somehow, I fail to understand how the abolition of elected positions and replacement by bureaucrats - who will appoint other bureaucrats to do what elected officials now do - will improve the quality of government or bring government closer to the people. But then I'm certain that is knowledge not possessed by mere mortals and rests only in the brooding omniscience of editorial writers.

The anonymous writer stated that local governments can make reform by hiring ``professionals, but they are locked into paying a share of the costs to maintain the independent constitutional officers.'' He/she fails to tell readers that part of the costs of operation comes from the state since the offices are mentioned in the Virginia Constitution. And, if abolished as elected officers and if locally appointed bureaucrats assume the duties, the entire cost would have to be borne by the local government. (Could that be the reason there hasn't been a groundswell among local governments to take over the offices?)

The elected constitutional officers in Virginia see and work with more of their respective citizens in a given month than are seen by all the appointed bureaucrats in a year.

Because we are elected, we know for whom we work, and we know that if we wish to keep our jobs, we must serve efficiently and accurately. For whom do appointed bureaucrats work, and how do they keep their jobs?

Could the writer justify why we elect any administrator, such as a governor or president? After all, they don't make policy, they just administer. And being a governor or president certainly might require ``specialized knowledge and skills'' that an elected official may not possess. I guess that's why we don't elect writers, either.

Michael M. Foreman is clerk of the circuit court in Winchester and a past president of the Virginia Court Clerks' Association.

by CNB