A friend and former colleague told me a brief story about a man whom I saluted with an earlier blog post that I want to share here.
John Ward died recently at the age of 70. He served for 22 years as Amarillo’s city manager, which by itself is an astonishing length of time, given the brutal and unforgiving nature of the work one must do. He had to work with governing councils comprising individuals of vastly different priorities and personalities … led by mayors with widely divergent points of view.
Ward got into a snit with a reporter at the Amarillo Globe-News over some information the reporter sought, my friend said. Ward resisted handing it over, apparently believing it wasn’t public information. Ward was mistaken.
He turned the info over to the reporter after my friend insisted he do so. My friend noted this about Ward: He could have held a grudge over being shown up by the media, but he didn’t. He put it aside and carried on in his role as city manager and worked with the newspaper on all matters the paper was reporting on as it regarded city affairs.
That’s what a trained professional does. He might resist a request. If he comes out on the short end of that kerfuffle, he forgets about it and goes about his or her job.
Indeed, it is the kind of public official who earns the respect of those who take it upon themselves to seek information that could be sensitive in nature. I have known too many folks in public life who take these dust-ups personally.
Their lingering anger serves them, the media that cover them — and the public to whom they answer — poorly in the end.
John Ward knew that intuitively and served the city with competence and devotion to the tasks he undertook.
