A proponent of leadership sees hope in a Kitsap County cohort
Anyone that has followed my writing or listened to one of my talks over the years understands that I believe that leaders create change and solve problems in any community. I am beginning to believe that political leadership is almost a lost art in American politics. For some reason we are led to believe that if a person is elected to public office they must be a leader and have some leadership skills, in many cases this proves not to be true. Most public officials are well meaning people who care about their community but are uncomfortable in a leadership role. Many elected officials today are intimidated by loud , aggressive and intolerant voices who represent a minority of the electorate. Slings and arrows are constantly aimed at those leaders who are visionary and courageous.
Today it seems that many elected officials are not driven by a passion to create change but they do enjoy serving their communities in elected office. They have found that to remain in office they have to stay in what I call the political safe zone. They don’t get out in front of issues that might find opposition in the community. They are not legacy leavers. They worry that a few hundred people might get on social media and yell at them or oppose them in the next election. Today, many, not all, elected officials seem to continue to be re-elected not by leading change but by practicing the age old strategy of “showing up” for every event they can get invited to. I am sad to say that in many cases this strategy works.
Don’t get me wrong, there are leaders in every community. Some are elected officials who are creating change, but much of this change is being initiated by nurses, doctors, non-profit workers , business owners, executive directors, police officers, medical responders, teachers, coaches and neighborhood organizers. These people are committed to facing the challenges and solving problems in order to improve our quality of life in Kitsap County.
Today I am more optimistic than I have been in a long time. In Kitsap County I am seeing some new leaders emerge, elected officials and school administrators who seem to be committed to solving problems and leading positive change, they are difference makers, they are not afraid and seem to have some passion for the mission. In my observation these three people fit the role of community leader:
Katie Walters, Kitsap County commissioner
Katie is the newly elected commissioner from central Kitsap and she has hit the ground running. I worked with her when she was the Executive Director of Leadership Kitsap and was really impressed with her ability to motivate people and get things done. She is high energy and not afraid. Just recently she was able to direct a six million dollar grant to Olympic College which will allow them to expand their health science program on their Poulsbo campus. She has the ability to be a difference maker.
James Crawford, Bremerton School Superintendent
James was educated in the Bremerton School District. He just led the effort to pass a levy and bond issue that passed with over 60% yes vote. Two other school districts in Kitsap County were not so fortunate and will have to resubmit their levy to the voters. I served on the Bremerton citizen committee to pass the levy and in working with James I became a fan. He wants to make a difference and seems to be mission driven.
State Rep. Greg Nance, 23rd District
Greg has just been appointed to fill this position and finally after 25 years it appears we have someone in the state legislature that is willing to fight for the ferry riders. Rep. Nance has decided that solving the ferry crisis will be his number one priority in Olympia. He is not just talking about it he is holding “fix the ferry” meetings, he is proposing bills to provide more funding to speed up the process of adding more ferrys to the old and decaying fleet and he is listening to the riders. Most important he is reaching out to other state officials to get their support for the ferry system. He also seems not afraid and mission driven.
These three leaders give me hope that we can meet the challenges we will be facing in Kitsap County.
Cary Bozeman is a Port of Bremerton commissioner and former mayor of Bremerton.