Here’s a good example of the misguided belief, held by some policymakers, that private businesses are rolling in dough. This mindset comes to light today in comments from Wake County Commission Vice Chairwoman Betty Lou Ward, as part of this News & Observer story about the continuing fallout from the outrageous spending by now-fired Wake employee Craig Wittig.
Wittig was appropriately terminated following the exposure of more than 50 trips he took on the taxpayer dime to places such as the Magic Kingdom, Las Vegas, and Maine, where he and others went on an invigorating whale-watching cruise. His manager was reportedly demoted but still has a county job making $85,000.
Sadly, you would have to read down to the final paragraphs of the story to find comments from Commissioner Ward about the private sector (emphasis is mine):
Public disclosure of Wittig’s spending comes at a sensitive time for Wake commissioners. The board voted June 16 to impose a 2.5-cent property tax rate increase. Since news of the issue broke, county officials have fielded dozens of calls from outraged taxpayers.
Board Vice Chairwoman Betty Lou Ward, whose own frequent travel has been called into question in the past, said she supports Cooke’s plans for a wider audit.
She has no sympathy for Wittig, she said.
“The question I have to ask is did he really understand government?” Ward said. “In the private sector, I guess this wouldn’t have been a major deal. But I think when you have public money, you have to be especially careful.”
With all due respect, I have to ask Commissioner Ward if she really understands the private sector. In my career, I have worked for several private companies, large and small, and I can assure the commissioner of the following:
(1) expenses, especially those for travel, are scrutinized, sometimes by more than one person
(2) following a trip, I was expected to report on what I’d found/learned and submit my plan for whether or not it would work for my company. If I said yes, then whether or not the plan produced results was usually tied to my performance review
(3) If the blatant misuse of company money was found to have occurred, as it was found to have occurred with public money in Wake County, the CEO would have cleaned house. The most dire ramifications would have been meted out to the manager who let it occur under his/her nose
In other words, unlike government, where a growing source of revenue is nearly always assured and accountability is nearly always secondary, private businesses must minimize expenses in order to survive. Too bad this fact is lost on some of our elected officials. It does, however, illustrate why they are, many times, so quick to impose new taxes and regulations on private industry, without clearly understanding the consequences.
