Anyone who spends time with dogs knows they have all sorts of endearing traits, and one of my favorites is the tilting of their heads when they are perplexed. I’m happy to see our latest puppy has it. In a sign of how impressionable I can be, I long ago unconsciously adopted that canine trait when I am bemused, and I find myself often tilting my head these days when reading a message that regularly comes from readers. It is the suggestion that I run for office. That’s an absolute non-starter, for reasons I’ll explain in a bit, but first I want to explore why the suggestion keeps coming: Readers are frustrated by the low character and poor quality of their leaders. I wrote a column last year comparing today’s leaders to those I covered early in my career, noting how back then, the local leaders saw themselves as being “of” the community they served, while’s today’s leaders see themselves as kings who lord “over” their constituents. It goes deeper. Leaders today think about themselves first and their communities second, if at all. They base their decisions on how they will be affected rather than prioritizing what’s best for the residents. Mayors. Council members. Elected officials on the state and federal levels. How often is their messaging about them instead of you? A good example comes from my town, Cleveland Heights. A few years ago, voters weary of the town’s lack of progress took the dramatic step of changing the form of government, from a city manager to a strong mayor. They did so believing a visionary mayor could help our tired town become dynamic and attract younger people. Three-plus years into the new era, we see no vision. We have a mayor and City Council, however well-meaning they may be, that just bicker. They both fervently believe that the other is to blame for the conflicts and work hard to win residents to their side. And residents are disgusted. Who is at fault for the conflicts doesn’t matter. If the city had true leaders, they’d rise above the bickering and chase the bold ideas residents hoped for when they changed the government. What kind of bold ideas? How about a merger with East Cleveland? Crazy, right? That town has been decimated by corrupt government and a deteriorating tax base. No one wants to do business there. But East Cleveland has what my town does not, a lot of land that could be developed and attract wealth, including around thriving University Circle. If the two towns merged, you’d have stable government attractive to developers. The merger would quickly build the tax base and provide much better services to East Cleveland residents. Everyone could benefit. To continue that thought experiment, why not add in South Euclid and Euclid. Then, you’d have a formidable, diverse suburban city of more than 120,000 residents, with a lakefront, prime vacant land and a sense of purpose. What a place it could be. Obviously, something like this would take a lot of work and approval from residents, but you can’t deny it’s a bold idea. Something smaller? How about an indoor pool? The school district reneged on its promise to allow residents to use the high school pool if they approved a big tax increase for renovations some years back. What if the new city government asked residents for bonds to give the city an indoor pool? And maybe a splash park, to attract families with children? Residents get nothing of the sort. The mayor and council are too focused on themselves and their spats to be visionaries. I see that in leaders across the land. They don’t offer bold ideas because they want to keep their positions. Proposals like those I suggest above bring vocal opposition. Leaders today wither in the face of opposition. I’m not just talking about elected leaders, either. In past years, people largely knew who ran the three hospital companies and major employers like Eaton and Sherwin Williams. Remember Toby Cosgrove? Tom Zenty? Akram Boutros? Sandy Cutler? Chris Connor? Ok, who runs those places now? Most won’t know, because they are not community leaders. Remember when the Greater Cleveland partnership convened conversations about moving forward? Today, silence. In my newsroom role, I do champion big ideas. Part of the duty of an institution like ours is advocacy. We should make the community better, and we regularly offer ideas for doing that. Because I do what so many elected leaders won’t – articulate a vision and ideas – some people conclude I should run for office. Thanks, but like I said, that’s not happening. I adamantly believe journalists should never run for office because it compromises our profession. Think about it. You read my thoughts each week, and you see the positions we take, and you trust that we act in good faith. Would you still feel that way if I sought elected office? Or would you think back on everything I’ve written and wonder it my motive was about what’s best for me and not the community? Worse still, you’d rightly question the motives of every other journalist who comes along after me. Are they genuine? Or do they have selfish motivation? I respect journalism too much to put it at risk. Journalists are the Fourth Estate. We play a role in American democracy, but not from the inside. We are on the outside, operating as chroniclers and watchdogs. That’s our place, forever outside. One the personal side, I already have an important job, and I hope to finish my career in it. I should note that I am much closer to the end of that career than to the beginning. When I go, I plan is to never be heard from again, to be forgotten overnight, with the next generation coming to the fore. That’s as it should be. The institution of The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com are what matter. I’m merely a steward. So, even if I didn’t have a principled opposition to journalists seeking office, there’s no chance I would do such a thing. I’ll close with a message for people 35 to 50: This is your time to rise. Your country, your state and your communities need you. Leadership today is the worst of my lifetime. We need principled people to become leaders and return us to a day when elected office was about community service, not self-interest. It’s your turn. Get off the sidelines. Can you fix the mess we’re in? I’m at [email protected] Thanks for reading. | 