In January 1997, the Upper Perkiomen Valley lost one of its most active public servants, James E. Mullen.  He was the son of a coal miner, the mayor of Pennsburg for 28 years, local school administrator and educator, college trustee, and much, much more.

            You can read more about him at upvnews.com/news/article.ashx?article=30527.

            I had the honor and pleasure of serving with him for 14 years, eight of them as president of Pennsburg Borough Council.

            The reason I bring this up is because Mullen was a Democrat and I am a Republican.  We constantly communicated, whether sitting on his back porch or in the gazebo of Pennsburg's Alma Mullen Park, named after his beloved wife.

            We talked about everything.  The conversation that I remembered most was when he told me, "Democrat and Republican parties mean nothing when it comes to local governance.  The people know who you are and what you are capable of doing.  Your actions affect your friends, neighbors, and all other members of the community.  Serve them well."

            We became fast friends and were almost inseparable.  In our conversations we agreed, disagreed, and talked about ways to make the community better.

            That was then.  Service, action, and no adversarial actions.  Just honest friendship when we agreed and disagreed.  There was no winning or losing.  We had a strong borough council that rendered its own opinions and made its own decisions.  Afterwards, no hate.

            I render this short commentary in hopes of inspiring local elected officials, especially those newly elected.  Ignore national and state politics when serving your constituents.  Vow to learn the job and work with the others who have promised to do so.

            You don't have to agree all the time, but vow to listen to all sides of an argument.  Not only those who sit on the board with you. But listen to the words of your constituents.  After all, you represent them.

            The door swings both ways.  Your local government elected officials and constituents need to remember that you were elected.

            But you may not get that respect on your first day in office.  Respect is earned and you need to remember that in all of your actions.

            Doing nothing is not doing what you were elected to do.

            Investigate issues yourself.  Seek the wisdom of others, not their hate.  Listen to the opinions of others – you don't have to agree but study how their opinions match up (or not) with yours before you decide.

            Don't be afraid to discuss issues with others before you draw any conclusions.

            Remember, your actions affect your friends, neighbors, and all of your constituents.