Knowing, understanding, and following standard procedures is important for all elected and appointed officials, as well as in most (if not all) jobs in both the public and private sectors. Understanding and working to change the procedures, if necessary, is also a good practice. But this takes time, for consideration, fact finding, collaboration; and following or establishing formal procedures to accomplish the needed changes.

In the meantime, we must remember that our system of government rests on layers of checks and balances that were created to maintain democracy and prevent too much power being invested in any one public office or person. Many of the standard procedures that must be followed by elected and appointed officials exist to protect the public, to protect democracy, and prevent the potentially dangerous concentration of power that cannot be checked or balanced.

However, we cannot expect newly elected, appointed, or hired individuals to know or understand any particular agencies’ or work places’ established procedures without training and handbooks. The training and handbooks need to be well designed and provided well in advance of the beginning date of elected and appointed positions, so the official can efficiently take up their duties on their first day. Depending on the position, this may be important for public safety as well.

While taking shortcuts may sometimes seem like the expedient thing to do, unless there is an actual emergency it is best to slow down and make sure adequate policies and procedures are in place, and follow them. Post emergency (or in any breakdown of established procedure), it is important to review the actions taken, compare them to any established emergency (or other) procedures, and evaluate the actions taken as well as the procedures; and make adjustments, using the procedures developed for the purpose of making adjustments, to achieve better outcomes in the future.

Following the legal codes and the established and approved policies and procedures protects workers, officials, and our government agencies from liability, in addition to protecting our democracy. It may all seem like a bother, but it is a necessary bother.

At the moment, with the information currently available, it appears that there has been a break down in the process of transitioning to a new sheriff in our county. I hope that the policies and procedures for this transition and the training provided will be reviewed and improved; in order to avoid similar problems in the future.

HARVEST MCCAMPBELL

Raymond