Public Service: The Rent We Pay for the Air We Breathe

The following remarks were made by John Hadfield on his retirement as Executive Director of the Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA) after 30 years of public service.

I have been very fortunate to have been a public employee for most of my adult life. The past thirty years have been most rewarding for me and I want to thank SPSA’s past Boards of Directors for giving me the chance to serve the region as Executive Director. I most especially want to thank my mentor, friend and SPSA’s first Executive Director, Durwood Curling, whose vision, integrity and courage shaped the agency during its formative years. Without his leadership we would not be here this evening.

Early in my career at SPSA, one of our advisors who later became a friend to many of us, made an observation to me one day. It may not have been his original thought, but the sentiment has remained with me since that day long ago. He told me that “public service is the rent we pay for the air we breathe”. With due respect to the author, I would like to paraphrase that sentiment to say “public service is our obligation in repayment for the benefits of citizenship” – not nearly as well said as the original, but perhaps a clarification.

Many of you are now in or have been in public service. Clearly, that would include public employees, but it also includes those who give of themselves to run for public office, those who volunteer to work at the local food bank, with Habitat for Humanity or at the social services office. In short, public service includes a broad range of things we do for the betterment of the community and our neighbors. In contrast, and without disparaging private enterprise, public service does not create monetary profit; public service seeks no financial reward. Public service has its own very special rewards.

Some years ago, perhaps shortly after my friend had given me the sage advice on public service, one of our national leaders wrongly observed that “government is not the solution to the nation’s ills; government is the problem”. That shortsighted vision led to an era of reduced regulation, deregulation, and no regulation. Among other things, that misguided view led us to many years of shortchanged inspections and deferred maintenance on our national infrastructure that could have prevented the tragedy of the collapse of an interstate highway bridge in Minnesota last year. That “me first” view led us to ignore the incestuous practices of the banking industry and the unchecked greed that paved the way to the housing market collapse that still reverberates throughout our economy today.

Now, I am not here to tell you that government is the solution, but I will remind you that government has a role in advancing the public good. Government and public service have a quintessential duty in shaping our national life, our region’s future and the tomorrows for our children and grandchildren. I believe that there are some things we do in this country that are far too important to the nation’s fabric NOT to be undertaken as a governmental responsibility. The ultimate disposal of our solid waste is among those duties that I believe is so important that it is and must remain a governmental responsibility.

Thirty years ago, the leaders of this region looked around and saw the need for change, for a bold new approach to the way we were managing the solid waste we were creating. They could look around and see a municipal landfill that had a constant fire burning in it. They could see another that would become a superfund site; and another that had explosive gas migrating into nearby city hall buildings. Just down the street from here, a municipal incinerator was under court order to close but the city had no options available to it.

Our leaders of the time saw the problems but they also saw solutions. They knew about the political boundaries but they also knew that environmental problems knew no boundaries. By working together they envisioned a future that none of them could create on their own. They also knew that solid waste management was a core public service.

These dedicated public servants created SPSA, a bold new approach - a regional approach – to solve the crisis of the day. We can criticize them for the mistakes they made, and there were some. Hopefully we have learned from their errors. But we should never forget their vision, their leadership and commitment to make this a better place.

They also understood that the commitment of dedicated public employees brings an invaluable and unique perspective to our environmental challenges, responsiveness to our other citizens and an opportunity to help mold that vision of the future.

SPSA’s employees like other public employees across this country are not highly paid; they are not working for a year-end bonus. They have families with foibles and financial strains like so many others. Their reward is the satisfaction that comes from knowing they have accomplished great things for the common good. Their self-esteem comes not from their paychecks but from the gratitude of their peers, the simple praise of their leaders and the hugs from their families. They deserve the support of all our leaders.

I am proud to have been a part of this agency and for the opportunity to serve the region in a way that I hope will be viewed as valuable. I encourage you to continue to be involved in making where you live a better place than when you arrived. I challenge you to pay the rent on the air you breathe.

Thank you.