Advice for newly elected local officials

Congratulations! (Now time for some schoolin' ...)

Not a small number of Republican voters won their Local Election races on Cinco de Mayo. With that, conservative activist Don Stroud had some "unsolicited advice" for Leander city officials that can easily apply to any officeholder in any locality.

Read below for some nuggets of unapologetic truth from Stroud's Leander Lookout blog, and for the whole list click here.

• Your objective should not be to get re-elected, bloat your resume, carry water for outside special interests, or to advance your political career. If your objective happens to be any of those reasons, please refrain from taking the oath of office.
• Make your oath of office more than just good intentions.
• You are not the employee of the City Manager or city staff.
• The City Manager is to implement the policy you and the rest of the council determine, not the other way around. ...

Stroud suggests local officials keep the following questions in mind when weighing the pros and cons of every policy decision on the agenda:

• Is this the constitutional role of government?
• Does it fulfill the social contract? ...
• Is this necessary?
• Is it redundant?
• Can this best be handled through the private sector? Through outsourcing and effective contract management?
• Will the proposal or expenditure truly address a problem?
• What are alternative solutions?
• Is it good for ALL residents and taxpayers?
• Does this create more bureaucracy?
• What enforcement will be required?
• What are the unintended consequences?
• Does this abdicate local control?
• Can private or charitable sectors be enlisted to address the issue? ...

Source: http://www.leanderlookout.com/advice-new-leander-council-members