Good Governance is in Finding Good Managers, and Trusting Them

   Good governance can mean letting the person you place in charge, take charge. If you have a Utah chief of the BLM, let him or her run the program in that part of the country. Don't require that everything be approved back in Washington before policies can move forward in Utah.
   This is my answer to those who are calling for state control of federal lands. I am not against my country running the lands. In fact, I read the Utah Enabling Act, which spells out the agreement for Utah becoming a state, and find it says Utah and its citizens "forever disclaim" the unappropriated lands. Let us live up to what we have signed.
   There is a guideline some businesses follow. If there is a program to be done, they find the person who can do it and turn it over to them, letting them use their own ideas and own talent and own administrative skills. It requires having a savvy manager and every manager in the company does not fit the mold. But when you find such a manager, utilize him or her. Rather than micromanaging each aspect of  the company, utilize the talent you hire.
   I've suggested this principle should apply to our schools. If we have teachers who want to create their own programs, let them. We hired them, and their ways might be as wise as those imposed upon them. If we have a teacher who wants to teach from his or her own outline of American history, we will want to keep abreast of what is being taught (lest it go astray), but go with the teacher's initiative.
   It is the same with government. If you have a bureau chief in Utah, give him or her as much free rein as possible. One of the keys to good governance is to study each issue well before making a decision. The president is not in position to study every issue in every department in every state. The Secretary of Interior is not going to be as hands-on to the problems. The problems are going to be coming first to the officers in the various locations. If they are the receptors of the information, and complaints and needs, they are in the best position to make the decisions.
   Let them. It's called good governance. It requires that you put a wise person in the post. So, let the Secretary of Interior be more concerned with placing a solid person in the post than in overriding many of that person's decisions.
   Good governance is in finding good managers, not in doing the managing for them.