To the Editor:
At every election, through a process of proven imperfection, we attempt to choose elected officials who will provide us with good government. Sadly, we provide the means by which we suffer when we poorly choose those officials.
In his address to Congress, December 8, 1829, President Andrew Jackson wrote: “There are, perhaps, few men who can for any great length of time enjoy office and power without being more or less under the influence of feelings unfavorable to the faithful discharge of their public duties. They are apt to acquire a habit of looking with indifference upon the public interests and of tolerating conduct from which an unpracticed man would revolt. Office is considered as a species of property, and government rather as a means of promoting individual interests than as an instrument created solely for the service of the people. Corruption in some and in others a perversion of correct feelings and principles divert government from its legitimate ends and make it an engine for the support of the few at the expense of the many.”
Unfortunately, too many of our present day public officials perfectly fit this description.
Surely, there must be citizens of the type needed to be reasonable and responsible officials; people with strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and honorable character, who cannot be seduced or corrupted by the lust or spoils of office.
I am writing this letter because I believe that the 16 year record in office of St. Mary’s County Commissioner Larry Jarboe meets the criteria of the type of citizen and elected official needed. Accordingly, I encourage voters to select Larry Jarboe for election to the Maryland Senate. I have never known him to be unfaithful in his representation of public interests.
Vernon Gray
Great Mills, Maryland
