Too many people would agree that our trust in government is at an all-time low.  Be it at the federal level all the way down to the local elected officials.  What happened?

            The untrustworthiness of the many cloud the vision of the few, and yes there are many good, honest and trustworthy elected officials out there.  We just rarely hear or read about the good because of the din created by the awful.

            When voters cast their ballot in support of a winning candidate, that candidate accepts the responsibility of that trust.  It is a sacred responsibility and should represent a moral obligation to do the job – not just hold the title.

            That winning candidate is also responsible to represent all of the people – whether they supported him or her, or even bothered to cast a ballot.

            On a local level, the means when you do your best to represent all of the people, you end up truly serving the community.

            Some people just don't care about that.  The fascinations of politics or the desire to feed an ego by being called a leader without actually being one eventually runs head-on into the reality of doing the job you were elected to do, and doing it well.

            Thinking you can do the job and handle the responsibilities alone won't get the job done.  Knowing what you're doing, relating to people, recognizing shortcomings and empathizing with frustrated constituents is part of being an elected official.

            As frustrated citizens continue to attend meetings of the East Greenville Borough Council, it doesn't bode well for civil interaction as the June 1 deadline for withdrawing from the Upper Perk Police District partnership nears.

            The rule is that public participants at the meetings can ask questions but officials are not obligated to answer them at that time.  Solicitors often remind your elected officials (not theirs) about that during the meetings.  Remember, the solicitor represents the officials, not the public meeting participants.

            However, there are times when officials should, dare I say, go out on a limb and answer an honest question from their perch at the head table.  Not argumentative, baited or irrelevant blather.  But, honest questions that they should know the answer to.

            That would be a good way to start building that trust again.

            Another building block is to avoid "executive sessions" or meeting behind closed doors, out of the eyes and ears of the public.  If you are discussing the business of the public, do it in front of the public.  Let them see and hear how competent, or incompetent, you are.

            They deserve that.

            Yes, the law permits private discussions away from the public and a few of the local governments use the private sessions quite sparingly.  There are others that greatly rely on hiding their discussions and actions.  Are they afraid of asking a "stupid" question or making a "dumb" statement in public?  If they know what they're doing, they shouldn't be ashamed of doing it or saying it in public.

            If your municipality has more than two or three private, executive sessions a year, maybe that's one of the main reasons why people don't trust them and are asking so many questions.