I have spent my career working for state/county government.  I have seen the red tape—incomprehensible regulations, inconsistent policies, cumbersome processes—all the things that inspire jokes about the bureaucracy.  On occasion, I have seen under-performers not held accountable, as is true in most organizations.  

Every day, I have also seen hundreds of intelligent, dedicated, hard-working people focused on serving the public within unimaginable constraints, often as navigators and advocates for residents in need.  They are not the bumbling, dimwits that are portrayed on TV.

I work in IT, which involves hiring contracted vendors.  Often these hot-shot techies comment that they are shocked and impressed by the high level of competence in the public sector, defying the stereotypes they have come to believe. 

Clearly, there is plenty of waste in government, and huge opportunities for reform.  However, to blame government workers is unfair and misplaced.  

Bureaucracy is messy because democracy is messy.  Representative government is supposed to forge compromises among competing interests.  Over decades and multiple layered jurisdictions, we wind up with incomprehensible regulations, inconsistent policies and cumbersome processes.  

I have also seen regulations simplified, policies aligned and processes streamlined, though these successes never make the news.  Reform happens through policy collaborations across jurisdictions, partnerships with the private sector, and policy-making that is informed by experts.  Ultimately, reform happens through good, strategic, visionary legislation.

What I have never seen in my 40+ years working in bureaucracy is contempt for taxpayers or even the slightest hint of corruption.  The public servants I have called colleagues are as honest, earnest, ethical and impartial—exactly what we should expect from people whose salaries are paid by the public.  For most of us, public service is a calling for people who deeply believe in democracy.

Like everyone, bureaucrats may have political opinions but they are barred by law from letting personal views impact their professional conduct.  They implement laws without political bias, even those that they find distasteful and misguided, because they believe in the rule of law or they would not choose careers in public service.  There is no “deep state,” conspiring against the will of the people.

The cruel treatment of public servants in the last few weeks is a cynical attempt to undermine democracy by attacking those who carry out the laws, rather than use the legislative process to change them.  The current administration is using intimidation and fear toward those with no political authority in order to install political loyalists.  What they are doing is illegal, un-American and a disgrace to our country.  And who is stopping them?

But it is “we the people” who will lose in the end.  The decimation of government agencies and politicization of bureaucracy will hamper our ability as citizens to be well-served by our elected leaders.  We lose the confidence that social security checks will be mailed, service providers will be paid, that roads, bridges and planes will be safe, that law enforcement and emergency services will come when we call, and that there will be assistance for those harmed by natural disasters. 

We will lose trust in government data and reports, that every industry and sector relies on.  Boring government statistics will be spun to favor the political party in power.

Are we really willing to trade the bureaucracy, with all of its warts and flaws, for a system that is driven by politics?  I, for one, will fight to preserve a dispassionate, sometimes inefficient, bureaucracy based on political compromise in the legislative arena. The alternative is a corrupt system of deal-making manipulated by the powerful to serve themselves, not the American people. And how will you fight?

Please, call your elected officials and urge them to stop the assault on public services and public servants before it is too late.  

If you don’t know what to say, here are some points you might consider:

• Elon Musk was not elected, nor confirmed by the Senate.  He has been given too much power without any checks and balances.
• Actions are being taken without proper evaluation of what is working and what is not. 
• Government reform should be done through the legislative process, not executive orders. 
• The administration must follow the laws that protect employees from being fired without cause and due process.
• Government workers are not the enemy.  They are us.  They deserve respect and appreciation.

If you know a government worker, reach out and offer support and help.  Even if they don’t work for the federal government, they are feeling attacked and wonder when they, too, will be fired without cause.  Also, follow and support various lawsuits by States, unions and individuals.

If we allow the dismantling of the bureaucracy, we will look back with fondness at a time when all we could complain about was red tape.