Public figure, or public servant?

I love being in front of a crowd. I'm the youngest of seven children. Youngest children almost always are the entertainers. The outgoing ones. I'm told by the age of 2 I could do a pretty good Beatles medly and was very entertaining at parties. I make no secret that you give me a microphone and a room full of interested people and you better bring a hook or pray for a power outage. I admit all this because I value my propensity for self-evaluation. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Admit what you are, and move forward. I told my wife last night that I wasn't going to blog on this. I told her that Katheryn Shields may end up mayor to my councilman and I certainly don't want to start off on the wrong foot. I tried. I really tried. Then I slept on it. Then I woke up this morning and I'm still bent. So I write. I blog, therefore I am. Now, where was I? Oh yes. "The mural." $100,000 for a fresco on the ceiling of the Jackson County executive offices. Absolutely ridiculous! Not the art mind you. I'm a huge advocate of the 1% for public art program. In fact, some cities specify 2% and that might not be such a bad idea either. My problems are as follows: 1. Why blow the whole budget on one art project? The whole courthouse renovation totalled $10 million. They could have taken the $100,000 and scattered several projects throughout the building. They could have included art and artists from throughout the county (that's county and not country). Paintings, sculptures, and yes even a fresco or two. 2. Only standing dictators create monuments to themselves. Saddam Hussein loved to see his likeness on walls of public buildings. So did Stalin. Having a sitting County Executive allow herself to be immortalized in a mural was a poor decision. Poor judgement. Poor policy. Poor taste. And in my opinion, pretty creepy. I know Katheryn Shields and her husband are very vindictive. If they even know who I am (I'm pretty sure Phil does) I know I've just made "the list." But you know what? I'm not afraid of them. What are they going to do? Not vote for me? I think that's a foregone conclusion considering I'm the grassroots, not taking any PAC money candidate. There are lots of powerful people who aren't going to vote for me because I'm not "playing the game." So what? Their votes count one at a time on election day, just like the rest of us. If you're a public official you have to withstand public scrutiny. Allowing herself to be a part of that mural was an amazing display of arrogance. There are public figures and then there are public servants. I'll stick with public servant, thank you very much.