Make Do

Here in Nevada, as in other states, our annual operating expenses have exceeded our projected tax revenue. I am told we have an $880 million shortfall to overcome.

Realistically there are only three ways to solve this problem: 1) raise taxes, 2) cut expenses, or 3) a combination of the two.

Already some individuals have voiced strong opposition to making cuts. They contend that doing so will undermine and compromise vital services. Perhaps it is only my imagination or a coincidence, but it seems me that some of the loudest cries of protest are coming from the administrators of agencies slated for cuts.

Certainly no one wants to see the level of any truly necessary public service diminished or curtailed. However, we all know that some fat exists in every public agency, fat that accumulated here and there when times were good. No department of government, at any level, is administered so efficiently and economically that waste cannot be found and cut.

With that in mind, I offer the following thoughts to those who oversee and administer departments within our state and local governments.

Stop grumbling and show us why someone once believed you were qualified for the job you now hold. Look to the future, not backwards. Acquire a new perspective. Become an innovator and a motivator. Be the kind of person who can get a lot accomplished with a little. Anyone can manage an organization when there is no shortage of funds or personnel, but only a few, a very talented and select few, can achieve great things when resources are scarce. By complaining, you are merely showing us that you are not one of those special people.

No one is happy with the predicament we currently are in, and there are plenty of theories regarding whose fault it is. But your job, for the time being, at least, is to make do with what you’re given until we can work through these difficult financial times.

If you can do that, you’re worthy of your salary. If you can’t, please stop trying to occupy a space that you obviously don’t have the professional stature to fill.

Photo: Heath E. Morrison, Washoe County School Superintendent