Who will stop politics as usual?

We've all seen it over and over. There is a new election, sometimes even a recall vote. The old politicians get voted out and new ones come in with a promise of change. Yet, six months, a year, two years later, there seem to be the same problems and it starts all over again.

Over the past 15 years, I have been elected to a number of boards and offices in local, state and national organizations. I'm not a really political person but often people think of me as a good candidate - literally. I fit the profile - I have kids, a job, no criminal records, not currently addicted to anything,  no secret history of embezzling, sexual harassment and in good enough health to finish out a term. Hey, you get over 50 years old and the number of people that fall into all of those categories at once is shrinking pretty fast! On top of it all, I am "that age", you know the age when you don't have the excuse to get out of meetings that you have a bunch of little kids at home, and there is the assumption you are old enough to know something potentially valuable.

Probably like many of you, the deciding factor in my election to each office was that something made me mad. Some injustice or unethical act happened that jarred me out of my complacency so that I finally said,
"We cannot have people like that running our organizations. We need people with courage, integrity, perseverance and generosity in positions of power, not small-minded, petty, vindictive, dishonest cowards. "

My first office came about when someone who I had criticized said to me sarcastically,
"Well, if you think you can do so much better, why don't you run against me?"

So, I did. And I won. Now what?

That was years ago, and here is what I have learned.

1. The slide into unethical behavior happens little by little. I have never been tempted to take ten thousand dollars that did not belong to me. It has, however, been difficult to tell people  I have known for years who asked me to select them for positions,
• "I'm sorry, Dean, but I had to choose the person who I believed would do the best job. That's my responsibility to the people who voted for me, to see they get the best possible services."
2. It's easy to justify small unethical acts when you believe you are on the right side. It is the old utilitarian argument, the greatest good for the greatest number. I had a discussion with a friend yesterday that went something like this:
   
• "AnnMaria, I know the rules say that a person needed to have a certain amount of hours of continuing education for that certification, but Roger controls a lot of votes. Can't you just sign him off as if he did it? I mean, really, is it worth losing an election just to make one guy jump through the hoops?"
3. It's a lot harder to stand up to your friends than to your enemies.
• "What do you mean you aren't going to support that funding for my program? It's me, Lorraine! Haven't I always been willing to take on any task, sign on to any committee when you needed help? I can't believe this!"
4. A lot of people who you thought were your friends turn out not to be.

All of the topics discussed in the Introduction to Ethics for Tribal Workers course are observed on every board on which I have ever been a member. There is a big need for honesty. I am sure my friend sincerely believed he was right in encouraging me to not make an enemy of Roger. As a true friend, he wanted to see me succeed. He really supports me and wants to see me re-elected. I value that and true friends are hard to find. That is why it took not just honesty, but courage to answer him, knowing I might lose a friend. If you think it is easy, you have obviously not been in that situation. Here is what I told him,

"I don't believe in special rules for special people. The same laws apply to everyone. We follow the same policies for everyone. How can I say that James, Donna and Carol had to attend those classes over the past years to keep their jobs, but Roger doesn't? What makes him deserve special privileges that they don't get? Because he has a lot of votes? If I need to become like the people I replaced to keep this job, then what have we really accomplished getting elected?"

Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, had a wonderful line in her autobiography that I have quoted many times, explaining the unpopular decisions she made, decisions that may, in the end, have cost her the position she held as one of the most powerful women in the world.

"Once you sell your soul, no one can ever buy it back for you."

So, I refused to sign off on Roger's paperwork, picked someone more qualified than Dean for the open position and gave the funding to programs that needed it more than Lorraine's. Over four years, it has taken courage, perseverance, honesty and generosity - the generosity to help out other programs, other people, without any expectation of return-  even when they were not my friends and maybe never even knew I helped them.

It has been hard. If you are going to try to make any changes, please don't underestimate how difficult it will be. Be prepared.

I had to smile, too, thinking about this. I read Dr. Longie's blog. He and I debate ideas and terminology a lot. I am a solid Catholic and he very definitely is not. 

I would say, in the end, I still have my soul.

Reading Erich's blog, I guess I would say, I have been a man and a real Indian.

Hmmm.... in this case, I think perhaps my terms work better.