......................Solon..........................Sometimes our little city gets lucky. For 16 years Raymond C. Walton has guided the town of Knox. He was buried today. For these many years Mr. Walton has been the Clerk - Treasurer of Knox, Indiana. He executed the duties of his office with extraordinary skill. He demonstrated extraordinary competence. I know of no other public official that can rise to his standard of skill and competency. I wish all public officials would attempt to emulate the career of this great public official.
There is no reason that the average citizen of Knox has the foggiest notion as to what I am talking about. After all, Clerk - Treasurer of Knox, Indiana, isn’t very impressive sounding. Hell, being Mayor of Knox, Indiana certainly doesn’t cast a great shadow. So let me tell you a little about Ray Walton, Clerk – Treasurer. Ray knew where the money came from and where it went. That alone is a fairly big deal. I can assure you than many other cities have Clerk – Treasurers that don’t know that much. Beyond that Ray knew exactly what the rules were. He knew what needed to be spent. He knew what shouldn’t be spent. He knew what bonds were and how to use them correctly. He knew how a budget needed to be written. He knew how to wring every last cent out of the State that the City had coming.
But having the knowledge doesn’t mean that you have the skill to communicate that knowledge or the persuasive skill to convince the public officials in charge to behave wisely. Well Ray Walton had that skill. It was obvious that Ray had no ambition to be Mayor. It was also obvious that he had knowledge, not bullshit. This allowed Mayors to simply follow his advice without worrying about screw-ups or political competition. Ray made the Mayors look good. The department heads (police, streets, water) knew they could trust what he had to say. If he said cut back, they trusted that is what they had to do. They also knew that if they badly needed something, Ray would find a way.
Sadly the Starke County government has not had anyone of Ray’s stature. Stupid decisions have been made and there are short term and long-term bad consequences. We will see County government struggle for years to come.
There is a lot more that could be said about Raymond C. Walton as a fine example of a human being and a man. But I don’t do obituaries.
There is no reason that the average citizen of Knox has the foggiest notion as to what I am talking about. After all, Clerk - Treasurer of Knox, Indiana, isn’t very impressive sounding. Hell, being Mayor of Knox, Indiana certainly doesn’t cast a great shadow. So let me tell you a little about Ray Walton, Clerk – Treasurer. Ray knew where the money came from and where it went. That alone is a fairly big deal. I can assure you than many other cities have Clerk – Treasurers that don’t know that much. Beyond that Ray knew exactly what the rules were. He knew what needed to be spent. He knew what shouldn’t be spent. He knew what bonds were and how to use them correctly. He knew how a budget needed to be written. He knew how to wring every last cent out of the State that the City had coming.
But having the knowledge doesn’t mean that you have the skill to communicate that knowledge or the persuasive skill to convince the public officials in charge to behave wisely. Well Ray Walton had that skill. It was obvious that Ray had no ambition to be Mayor. It was also obvious that he had knowledge, not bullshit. This allowed Mayors to simply follow his advice without worrying about screw-ups or political competition. Ray made the Mayors look good. The department heads (police, streets, water) knew they could trust what he had to say. If he said cut back, they trusted that is what they had to do. They also knew that if they badly needed something, Ray would find a way.
Sadly the Starke County government has not had anyone of Ray’s stature. Stupid decisions have been made and there are short term and long-term bad consequences. We will see County government struggle for years to come.
There is a lot more that could be said about Raymond C. Walton as a fine example of a human being and a man. But I don’t do obituaries.
No comments:
Post a Comment