JIM MAZA FOR SENATE
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Speech of James W. Maza
Swearing-In Ceremony
as County Commissioner
January 7, 1999
- We must manage our existing programs and services well and support them with appropriate tax revenues. We cannot solve half a crime, teach half a course, feed half a resident or house half a prisoner or hear half a case. We must pay for all the government needs, but not one cent more, for taxes represent dollars taken from families that they need for clothes, housing, college or personal needs.
- We must finish the work of the Montgomery 2000 Commission whose mandate is to focus the county government services and money in a strategic planning effort. The goal is to set forth specific achievable activities and priorities.
- The people of this county face now a critical ground water crisis. The government must, with the municipalities, develop both a conserve and protect program, as well as develop an emergency plan for the thousands of households dependent on diminishing water resources.
- We must continue what is now the largest local open space initiative in the United States. For the protection of ground water recharge, natural resources and the quality of life, we must continue to preserve the diminishing open space in our communities.
- We must solve, as best we can, our transportation problems of gridlock by creative solutions to increased commuter traffic, inadequate roads and support mass transit.
- The county must support and assist the use by our townships and boroughs of regional planning with joint zoning ordinances to cause rational land use and end suburban sprawl. This will end the unreasonable development pressure which crowds schools, raises taxes, strains services.
- This county must treat each employee with respect, valuing their contributions, while requiring that taxpayers get their money's worth. I will work with the other Commissioners to insure adequate and fair pay and working conditions for all who serve this county.
- Since the future of this county directly depends on the future of all our people in all our municipalities, we must create and fund a comprehensive community revitalization, a program to assist our older, more developed communities to afford a decent and safe place to live, a job with a living wage. County government, in cooperation with local leaders, must support and maintain not with words but with technical help, resources and dollars if Norristown, Pottstown, North Wales, Royersford and Hatboro grow and prosper.
President Judge Smyth and Judges of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas:
Thank you for the appointment to the County Board of Commissioners. I accept this public trust with dedication, aspiration and excitement. Each day I will strive to serve our fellow citizens of this county with vision, vigor, and, in the words of the oath of office—“with fidelity.”
I am thrilled to be Montgomery County’s newest employee.
To the Commissioners Mele and Buckman, I pledge principle over senseless partisanship and offer my best efforts to promote the cause of honest, effective, innovative government. When I lost the Commissioners race in 1991, I walked to your headquarters and promised to work together on those efforts on which we agreed and to discuss civil areas of dispute. We worked together on open space, airports, regional planning, and the Montgomery County 2000 Commission. In that same spirit, I now join you on the Board of Commissioners.
May my voice in this trio be always helpful, harmonious and clear.
To my new partners, all 3,000 public servants, who each day care for our elderly, build our bridges, guard our prison, run the library, protect consumers, prosecute crime, help the needy, collect taxes, guide our delinquent children, teach at our college, protect open space, administer justice—often with little public gratitude or pay—please show me the way to make this government meet its obligations to the 700,000 people we serve.
To my wife, Beth, and sons, Will and Alex, and my father, who support my activities and dreams, forgive my flaws and heal my disappointments; to friends new and old, accept my gratitude for your support and your presence today.
For today, my heart is full and my mind is racing.
Next week, I will begin my orientation program by working in various county departments, listening, learning and helping my co-workers in their daily tasks. The success of our programs depends directly on the energies and skills of each county worker. My job as Commissioner is to ensure the necessary resources and policies in each program area. The best place to learn about the tasks assigned is not the fifth floor of the courthouse, but on the job. The best measure of the public benefit from the tax dollars spent is to see the job performed. I will begin at the Geriatric Center and meet with department heads and center workers who care for the elderly and participate directly in their work. I will do this in various departments and agencies of the county government, show support to my co-workers, and to illustrate to the public what critical role county government serves.
On its bad days, government is a pointless circle of bureaucracy without purpose or reason. On its good days, government can provide to our citizens essential services necessary to a safe, progressive and caring community.
Together, with focus and vision, with clear purpose and common cause we together can lead our county community into the year 2000. The challenges faced by tight budgets and complex problems require the combined efforts of all. The success depends on the wisdom of the promises made and kept.
Accordingly, I set for myself and propose for county government the following priorities:
In closing, let me again thank the Court for this appointment to the Board of Commissioners. I am ready to go to work.
To those county government serves, to the taxpayers who support it, to the public servants who sustain it, to the citizens who empower it, it is my firm resolve to account for this stewardship with all the hard work, generous spirit and enthusiasm I can employ.
President Judge Smyth and Judges of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas:
Thank you for the appointment to the County Board of Commissioners. I accept this public trust with dedication, aspiration and excitement. Each day I will strive to serve our fellow citizens of this county with vision, vigor, and, in the words of the oath of office—“with fidelity.”
I am thrilled to be Montgomery County’s newest employee.
To the Commissioners Mele and Buckman, I pledge principle over senseless partisanship and offer my best efforts to promote the cause of honest, effective, innovative government. When I lost the Commissioners race in 1991, I walked to your headquarters and promised to work together on those efforts on which we agreed and to discuss civil areas of dispute. We worked together on open space, airports, regional planning, and the Montgomery County 2000 Commission. In that same spirit, I now join you on the Board of Commissioners.
May my voice in this trio be always helpful, harmonious and clear.
To my new partners, all 3,000 public servants, who each day care for our elderly, build our bridges, guard our prison, run the library, protect consumers, prosecute crime, help the needy, collect taxes, guide our delinquent children, teach at our college, protect open space, administer justice—often with little public gratitude or pay—please show me the way to make this government meet its obligations to the 700,000 people we serve.
To my wife, Beth, and sons, Will and Alex, and my father, who support my activities and dreams, forgive my flaws and heal my disappointments; to friends new and old, accept my gratitude for your support and your presence today.
For today, my heart is full and my mind is racing.
Next week, I will begin my orientation program by working in various county departments, listening, learning and helping my co-workers in their daily tasks. The success of our programs depends directly on the energies and skills of each county worker. My job as Commissioner is to ensure the necessary resources and policies in each program area. The best place to learn about the tasks assigned is not the fifth floor of the courthouse, but on the job. The best measure of the public benefit from the tax dollars spent is to see the job performed. I will begin at the Geriatric Center and meet with department heads and center workers who care for the elderly and participate directly in their work. I will do this in various departments and agencies of the county government, show support to my co-workers, and to illustrate to the public what critical role county government serves.
On its bad days, government is a pointless circle of bureaucracy without purpose or reason. On its good days, government can provide to our citizens essential services necessary to a safe, progressive and caring community.
Together, with focus and vision, with clear purpose and common cause we together can lead our county community into the year 2000. The challenges faced by tight budgets and complex problems require the combined efforts of all. The success depends on the wisdom of the promises made and kept.
Accordingly, I set for myself and propose for county government the following priorities:
To those county government serves, to the taxpayers who support it, to the public servants who sustain it, to the citizens who empower it, it is my firm resolve to account for this stewardship with all the hard work, generous spirit and enthusiasm I can employ.
Copyright ©2002 Maza for Senate Committee
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Last update: July 16, 2002