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December 17, 2008

Serving constituents is what it is all about

By Kirt Thacker, District 3 Commissioner

December 17, 2008 — Greetings from the County Barn! I just spent a very interesting three days at the Association of County Commissioners building (ACCO), meeting newly elected commissioners from all over the state. ACCO conducts new officer training for ALL county officers that are interested in their new duties. Almost every new elected official that was elected in November was there, County Clerks, Court Clerks, Commissioners and Sheriffs. I took this training two years ago and I remember having many of the same questions that they had pertaining to employment issues to legal situations. It was very informative as a refresher course and I picked up some things I missed the first time. There were two commissioners attending that have been in office more than 15 years, that tells me that no matter how much experience one may have it is always better to learn new things every chance we may have. In county government things change from time to time and we need to keep up with those changes in order to serve the people that we represent. That is a problem that I see not only in government but in the corporate world as well. The Problem?, forgetting that we serve. I have seen people who act as if the customer is an interruption in their daily activities. People are the reason were here!  Politics is not that much different than any business in that it is the customer that should come first. Sometimes when a person calls me they say " I hate to bother you..."  bother me? Its not a bother, its my job! In fact I have a motto that says nothing will interrupt a meeting unless a customer calls. I cant please everyone, sometimes they are unreasonable, sometimes I am, but every single day I remind myself that public servant means exactly that. I thank you, the people of Rogers County for allowing me to serve you.

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