Dayhoff Carroll

Dayhoff Carroll: www.kevindayhoff.org Westminster Md Online - The Winchester Report, by Kevin Earl Dayhoff: Runner, writer, artist, fire and police chaplain Mindless ramblings of a runner, journalist, and artist Westminster, Hampstead, Manchester, Taneytown, Union Bridge, Mount Airy and Sykesville in Carroll Co, Maryland... and Frederick Co. Westminster Fire Dept., Firefighters, police officers, Carroll Co Sheriff's Office, Md St Police. Chaplain duties, Religion, Grace Lutheran Ch.

Sunday, June 16, 2002

My Conservative Values Statement

Kevin E. Dayhoff

March 22, 2001 / April 17, 2001 / June 16, 2002

http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-conservative-values-statement.html

“The difference between Cannibals and Liberals is that Cannibals eat only their enemies.” - attributed to LYNDON B. JOHNSON, in the 1960’s

I recently received a phone message from a good friend and colleague at the leadership table, who shared with me, that at dinner the other night, one of his guests had speculated that there's a chance I'm too liberal. Yes, you read that correctly. It's the "L" word - in print, no less. And yes, there's that immediate question…'too liberal' for what? Too liberal for Westminster? And who really cares?

Who in Westminster overwhelmingly cares about political ideology - except for a couple political ideologues, whose constituency lies well beyond the scope of Westminster's world?

Westminster citizens care about real day-to-day issues. They care about quality of life, taxes, police and fire protection, trash pick up, schools and local employment opportunities… George Will, Bill Clinton, Dick Morris, and George W. Bush and their accompanying ideologies, are great dinner conversations - but they really aren't in any real trouble here locally until they don't pick up the trash one morning, fix the street light at the corner or catch the neighborhood kid who likes to drive through the development at twice the posted speed limit. I have always felt that local government is too important for partisan politics.

I immediately reminisced that (true story, one of my favorites) I once had a constituent, who didn't know me from Adam, but one day accosted me suggesting that I was a liberal because I had holes in my farm work pants. Okay! - let's take a look at this situation.

Last time I checked - holes in my work jeans are not quite the key and critical informational ingredients that are often used for interpretive and truly intellectual analytical assessments. Everyone involved had a good laugh.

But back to the phone message - I was calm. 'Gee - Thank you very much for your tape message. Your message made Caroline and I smile. It is very rare that our conservative and faith values are ever questioned, but hey - stuff happens. I'm good for it. I'm up for the challenge.'

Caroline and I are often the target of criticism for our conservative approach to Community Leadership. But all that aside - neither one of us really cares about labels. We are first and foremost - soldiers of God. We care about faith based and values-oriented efficacy. We are constantly pre-occupied with issues of leadership and effective government.

There really is no overwhelmingly conservative or left-wing way to collect the garbage, keep the street lights on or provide basic health, safety and welfare services for a small municipality. One either provides leadership that facilitates a quality of life or one doesn't. That being said - I firmly believe in better government not bigger government.

I mean - It's not rocket science ~ it’s Community Leadership that is the real discussion. I believe that leadership is all about Families and that Quality of Life is our Currency. It's Service. It's: Water and Sewer Service, Trash Collection, Police and Fire Protection, Roads and Snow Removal, Education, Recreation, Cost Effective Taxes, - - and, as an elected official- it all begins with me!

I often find these conversations unrewarding. (Wow, you should have read the first draft of this essay - my word choice was different.) For example - towards the end of the Ellen Sauerbrey (R) Campaign for Maryland Governor in 1994 - the hard right wing of the Republican Party decided that Ellen Sauerbrey was moderating on some core conservative values.

That series of events was quite an awakening for me. No one will ever know for sure - but I have determined that it was the hard, uncompromising and inflexible elements of the right wing of the Republican Party that elected Governor Glendening (D) for the last eight years. Whether you are a republican or a democrat - you have to admit that this is quite a paradox.

That experience provided me with some discerning - applied political science - insights about this issue. It taught me some lessons about maintaining uncompromising, inflexible and absolute approaches to leadership. Lessons which I will maintain for the rest of my leadership life. As community leaders, I feel that we must always maintain an open mind and facilitate a dialogue - especially with those, with whom we may disagree - or the foot we shoot, may very well be our own. I fully understand that we need to stand for something and therefore not fall for anything. But we must always be fair and remember that ultimately we are elected to serve the best interests of all of our constituency - not to promulgate an uncompromising dogmatic political ideology. There is quite a difference between a political leader and a community leader.

I again remind one of David Horowitz's latest books, "The Art of Political War and other Radical Pursuits." It is a wonderful read. I wholeheartedly recommend it. It begins by saying: "Politics is war, but in America the left is doing all the shooting. Shell-shocked conservatives blame their failures on the media or unscrupulous opponents, but they refuse to name the real culprit – themselves. In a book that will shatter the complacency of establishment conservatives, David Horowitz shows how Bill Clinton's generation, having mastered the art of political war, has spent the last ten years clobbering conservatives in and out of government."

I also studied very carefully the last campaign of George W. Bush and wholeheartedly endorse his big tent (inclusive and unity oriented) concept of conservative politics. Indeed, there is always room at my leadership table for a well intended leader to disagree with me.

I take enormous pride in being accessible and available for dissent, criticism, discussion and dialogue. Should there be any specific issue that is on the horizon which speaks directly to my vision for local leadership - I look forward to addressing that concern.

Meanwhile - Always take care to not wear work pants in public that have holes in them. They may be a dead giveaway that you actually work for a living. And we can all draw conclusions about that sort of work ethic values, now can't we?

God Bless, Kevin

03/22/2001 - R2 04/15/2001 - 04/17/2001 – 06/16/2002

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE 1844-1900

Kevin Dayhoff, a slave to the masters of the page - the little soldiers in my life - words

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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Patuxent Publishing Co., The Carroll Eagle: www.explorecarroll.com: http://www.explorecarroll.com/search/?s=Dayhoff&action=GO
The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com http://www.thetentacle.com/author.cfm?MyAuthor=41

Westminster Patch: http://westminster.patch.com/search?keywords=Dayhoff