LETTER: A government that serves government...

Over many, many years I have notice the steady growth of government. Employees were once called civil servants. I was once a civil servant serving in federal, state and local governments. During the late 1960s the term “servant” was discontinued, supposedly as demeaning. Then in the ’70s and ’80s, the term “civil” eroded so that it no longer applied to some employees, usually upper level.

Quite often, when there was (and is) a downturn in the economy, layoffs are necessary. Who gets cut? The hands-on workers. The supervisors seem to remain to “administer” the remaining workers while spending the newly found free time writing more regulations which THEY justify as needed.

An article in the Feb. 5 Daily Inter Lake entitled “Opposition halts higher dairy fees” caught my interest. The article stated that the rate increase was due to “the falling number of dairy producers in the state, meaning the remaining fee revenues no longer cover the program’s cost.”

I wonder if any “supervisors” will be terminated. No, of course not. We will just see where and whom we can ding to get more money. To hell with public needs — we need to keep our “supervision” intact. Obviously if there is less work for the field workers there shouldn’t be a need to search for new and higher fees. The workers are probably still needed to handle the inspections needed in a state as large as Montana. Couldn’t the supervising be combined with another department?

But I’m sure the usual bureaucratic answer will prevail — you just don’t see the full picture. No, I never have. I do see a government that serves government. —Robert Hafferman, Kalispell