Chris Paladino, Yay!

Today I actually managed to both leave my house and bathe before I did so, and wound up doing coffee from the new Dunkin' Donuts storefront up at the Northgate Plaza Shopping Center, with County Council District 4 candidate Chris Paladino.

I was impressed by Mr Paladino ("please call me Chris") as he's young and energetic, at least compared to myself. Furthermore, he didn't do the usual thing of running screaming away from yours-truly. I have to admit that my own conversational style is almost as pedantic and boring as my writing style, but the gentleman bore with me, as the saying goes.

I gave him a brief history of Aspen Hill, for so long as I have been here (since 1963) and insofar as I remember (the 1970s remain a bit of a blur), and he listened politely without too much glazing over of the eyes, which speaks well of his ability to remain on point and focused, something for which I am not known.

He spoke of the reasons for his interest in running, mostly because he's a good administrator and enjoys constituent services, having come to enjoy picking up the phone at the American Red Cross and asking people who really need it, "how can I help you?" Evidently some of his friends thought that he was good leadership material, and I would agree.

I gave him a little speech from out of Gibbons "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", about the classic Roman virtues of "dignitas" and "authoritas", respectively worthiness and responsibility (or "command"), The Romans of the Republic thought of those two virtues as the poles of the ladder, as it were, of one's rise to being a respected person of rank and public esteem, though of course these were expected to be associated with magnanimity and acting as a public benefactor. The Romans, of course, thought nothing of successful people building public baths or bridges or suchlike, and donating them to the public, occasionally even providing for their upkeep; though clearly it was the State's responsibility to fund certain affairs and constructions, at one time perhaps the majority of the great public works were brought by individuals, But I greatly digress.

Let me digress more: the new Dunkin' Donuts is very clean, has a great view of the Northgate Plaza shopping center, and if there was a shop for cops to drink some coffee while scoping out the area, that might be the place. Plus the service is friendly -- especially by comparison to some other neighborhood shops -- and this would be a good place for anyone to stop in and get some donuts or bagels and sit a little while and drink some coffee and talk.

Mr Paladino, it seems, is stepping up because he thinks he can do the job, and he's not something spit out by the Party Machine nor for that matter by MoCo politics. Most importantly, he's a capable administrator of long experience, and it did come up in the discussion that he's got long experience of dealing with novel situations in a crisis-handling mode. So far as I know, no other candidate for the position has this last particular talent, one which is sorely needed. I think he understand the whole concept of "be prepared for a rainy day" and after my little speech about how to handle dam breakages ("the ideal thing is to learn from failures and not let it happen again, even while dealing with the aftermath in front of you at the moment") I became more convinced that he might be the one for the job. I'd say that he should be able to be a fine advocate for the Public Service agencies such as Fire/EMT and the Police, and he's said that he wants to keep and improve the level of Constituent Services. This last bit, of course, is a particular concern of mine, as I have come to trust in and to depend on the capable and experienced Constituent Services people in the District 4 office, as have a great many other satisfied customers/taxpayers.

So, folks, take a hard look and give all good consideration for Mr Chris Paladino for County Council, District 4.