OPINION: Keeler: If You Don’t Get The Job Done, You Have to Go

Are you better off today than you were four years ago?  How about ten years ago or even twenty?

The answer is pretty simple, if the Mohawk Valley had a medical checkup the doctor would probably say our health is in a slow, dangerous decline.  No matter how our leaders spin it, there seems to be very little hope that positive change is coming for Utica, Rome and the Mohawk Valley. I think it's time for a whole new approach and I don't think we have a moment to waste.

First and foremost, we have to admit that it's our fault.  We've accepted the status quo and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. Luckily, it's never too late to rethink and rebuild; but, it's going to take some work. We are stakeholders in this region and from this day forward, we need to demand accountability and results.

The business world does it and it's not personal.  Recall the new Apple 'Maps' App that was added to the iphone which turned out to be a geographic disaster.  Richard Williamson was the manager in charge of Apple Maps and he was fired over the fact that the program didn't work right.  J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson was just fired because he was unable to stop the decline of the 111-year-old retail company.  In both cases, it was a pretty simple premise:  results and accountability.  These two chief executive officers are both very talented people; but, they simply weren't getting this particular job done, so, they had to go.

If you don't like the corporate analogy, let's look at the professional sports model.  How many coaches and managers get to keep their jobs when their teams don't perform?  A good sports team wants results or they shake things up.  Why should a municipality be any different?

Effective immediately, I have a new approach for my radio show: no more free passes!  I want answers to my questions and as a stakeholder in this region I'm going to demand results and accountability. The last several years have been nothing but decline and empty hopes and it's time to hold our local leaders accountable.  We have some very talented people serving as our public officials; but, if they can't get this particular job done, then they need to move on to something else.  

I know what it's like to have to live by these rules.  If I fail to deliver for WIBX, I'll lose my job. It's a pretty simple concept and I just think it's time for our public officials to start living by the same rules.