Government is NOT business

One of the things that's disturbed me throughout the whole discussion and process of Cuyahoga county "reform" is the focus in some quarters on the value of bringing business expertise to bear on the running of the county. I've always found this emphasis strange, given the radically different goals, strategies and requirements of for-profit businesses and government, which exists to provide services with public money. One has profit as its bottom line; the other doesn't. One requires accountability and transparency; the other doesn't. One can function in top-down mode; the other will probably grind to a halt in a sea of contention. Ironically, given all the uproar about county corruption, businesses routinely hire cronies or give jobs to some friend's son who's completely unqualified and, well, it's "business as usual." There's no way to stop them; everyone does it. In government, that sort of thing is considered unethical, and when it happens, it can — and should — create a scandal.

Not unexpectedly, the Plain Dealer is lauding business experience as a valuable asset in and of itself, although it's completely unclear to me why this should be of any greater value in a candidate's background than having served on a city council, or being a teacher or social worker, or running a nonprofit. I would argue all those things are of far GREATER value.

My friend Jill Miller Zimon has written an excellent piece on this issue that I would urge you to read.

http://jillmillerzimon.blogspot.com/2010/07/attn-pepper-pike-residents-p...

She's as bothered by this business focus as I am, and she makes some very good points.