Expectations vs. Reality
Finger-pointing is easy, but leadership rarely is

After all these years, I still remember a particular episode from “The Bob Newhart Show,” the popular ’80s TV series. In this episode, Bob, although nervous, is flattered to be asked to appear on a talk show. The host immediately puts him at ease and Bob, a psychologist, begins to believe this is going to be a piece of cake. But when the cameras flick on, the interviewer attacks Bob like a pit bull, accusing him and his profession of a litany of sins.

I was reminded of this show after listening to Mayor Ronnie Harris of Gretna, La. Having been mayor of this small city next to New Orleans for 20 years, he probably thought he had seen just about everything – that is, until Katrina hit.

As he drove me around New Orleans with commentary on all that had gone wrong in the hurricane’s aftermath, I looked at the desolation. Nine months following the disaster, houses still sat on top of one another. Each house was still marked with the indicators of a “final inspection” by disaster relief personnel, including notices of deaths, pets, and so on. Several yards had FEMA trailers parked out front. It was remarkable to think of the people who lived there. These were largely middle class to lower middle homes that I toured. I thought about their disrupted lives. How could they get to work? How could they keep up the mortgage? How could the kids go to school? These were ordinary people with ordinary lives – just like most of America – but they had become victims of an extraordinary disaster.

Mayor Harris’ story was a poignant one. It was his misfortune to become almost a poster child for all that went wrong. At one point he had to turn back a desperate group of people wanting only food and shelter. He told me over and over that he felt it was what he had to do, that he had no choice because his own city was without proper food, water and electricity. It was his duty, he believed, to take care of them first.

Unfortunately for Mayor Harris, the “Bridge to Gretna” story checked all the boxes for the 24-hour news channels. He was suddenly in demand on morning news shows and did a “60 Minutes” segment in which questions took on the tone of “Are you still beating your wife?”

CNN’s Carol Costello – a woman oozing with personality – called him one morning. He described her as “so very nice.” Like Bob Newhart, however, he soon learned that he had been lured into a snare. It was an attack from which there was no retreat on live camera.

Mayor Harris was a victim of Katrina, as were New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and countless others who found themselves thrust on the stage during that horrific event. They were victims of circumstances beyond imagination, ones that most of us have never had to face.

These mayors were also victims of a growing and insatiable pursuit of news by the TV networks and other outlets, who serve to inform us like we’ve never been informed before. That’s the good news.

But the bad news is that sensationalism often takes hold and we focus on the story of the week – or in the case of Katrina, month after month. Child molesters and countless other stories were pushed off center stage, the kind of stories that have us in fear to even walk down the street. But like much of the media, we are also victims of our own tendency to blame someone – anyone - for what goes wrong.

When I think of Mayor Harris, I think of a very decent person who for reasons unknown to me ran for and was elected mayor. He was suddenly faced with an event that no one could have handled with complete grace. It could even be said that he made mistakes on that fateful night. But I am reminded of our growing American disdain for government and for those willing to serve. Fewer are willing to step into the public leadership arena because they know they could not stand up under the intense scrutiny, either. We have lots of finger-pointers, but few are willing to take on the mantle of leadership themselves. Rather than automatically pointing fingers, it’s time we recognized the hardships and sacrifices our local leaders often endure in trying to serve us. They deserve that much.

Sylvia L. Lovely is executive director and CEO of the Kentucky League of Cities.
editorial@lanereport.com

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