I had a teacher in high school social studies that liked to say things that he thought were controversial. One thing he said that stuck with me over the years is that the primary goal of any institution is to first justify its existence, and that its next priority was to fulfill the purpose for which it was created. Over the years I have given this a lot of thought, and I am still not sure that I buy into it, because as with anything there are exceptions…but it is something I continue to ponder. This is my second column in this space, and you might consider what I say here to be controversial.

It is with great pleasure that I write my first column for the Spirit of Jefferson County. I would like to thank the Spirit for including me in their roster of contributors. For those who know me, you know that although I have run for office, I prefer to focus on issues rather than politics. Principles should trump politics but that isn’t always the case and I am not naïve in that regard. While the political process needs our constant vigilance, I believe that short term attempts at political solutions to our problems are eventually overwhelmed in the longer term by economic reality.