Dear Editor,

Other branches of the Armed Forces probably have the same sort of phrase that we have in the Navy, “The Chief is still the Chief, even in his bathing togs.”

Translated to civilian it means that whatever you do will reflect upon your command and your troops, good or bad; as an elected official (president, member of a national or state congress, county commissioner, or even a mayor of a very small town), any action while on-duty or off-duty will reflect upon your community.

If, as an elected official, you disagree or dislike someone’s speech, opinion, or performance protected by the constitution and you use social media to yell, denigrate, or lie to them or, while in a public setting yell obscenities and threaten to harm or jail someone, you are showing the world that we, as adults, are incapable of electing a competent leader.

Leadership means working for everyone you’re responsible to, and for, to guide them into the future; it does not mean kowtowing to a small-minded group of special interests and dismissing the rest.

An elected official who is incapable of, or declines to properly uphold the standards of office should either get onboard or leave the pier.

As adults we are responsible for electing officials capable of the task we ask of them. Additionally, we are responsible to hold those officials accountable for misbehavior while in office.

Too often, many citizens shirk responsibility by not voting, or voting with emotion instead of what is good for the group.

What we get for leadership rests solely upon the voter; you get what you vote for.

David Youngberg

Forks