Public Servant or Public Power: A Choice Communities Feel Every Day

Small counties feel the effects of their leaders more than anywhere else. Most people who live in, or move to, smaller towns and rural communities are looking for public servants whose titles and positions represent more than themselves — not just a shift schedule or a paycheck. The work has to mean more than policies, titles, or job descriptions. It has to be about people. About neighbors. About the places where families grow and traditions hold their roots.

When someone steps into a role that grants authority over others — whether it’s enforcing the law, making decisions in a courtroom, or overseeing services families depend on — they aren’t simply performing a job. They are stepping into a responsibility that should reflect the character of the community they serve. When those values aren’t carried with them, the gap between the public and the people in power opens very quickly.

And people feel that gap. They see it in how they are spoken to — or not spoken to at all. They hear it in the way decisions are justified, delayed, or ignored. They recognize it when priorities focus on influence and insiders, while looking nothing like the needs of the people who actually live there. Folks in small towns can read intent faster than any report or press release. They know when someone came to serve, and when someone simply came for a job.

When service is genuine, it shows in how the community as a whole benefits from it. Regardless of creed, religion, appearance, or political leaning, people are treated equally — with dignity, respect, and fairness. That tone carries outward. It shapes trust. It affects how safe people feel and how willing they are to engage with the institutions meant to serve them.

That is why the why behind public service matters so much. A résumé can tell you the positions someone has held. A title tells you what authority they’ve been granted. But neither tells you why they wanted the role in the first place. And that “why” is often the clearest indicator of what kind of leader they will be.

Why choose to work here?

Why take responsibility for this community?

Why accept authority over people whose lives you barely know or understand?

People can tell whether someone sees them as neighbors or case numbers. They can tell whether a role is being treated as a calling or as a steppingstone. They know when decisions are made out of service — and when they are made out of self-interest.

Small counties do not need public servants who want perfection. They need public servants who want accountability — starting with their own. They need leaders who understand that their decisions echo through families, shape outcomes, and can lift people up or weigh them down. Leaders who recognize that authority belongs to the people first, and that public servants only borrow it.

And here is a truth many people feel but rarely say out loud:

Holding public servants accountable is not disrespectful.

It is necessary.

It is healthy.

And it is part of how communities protect themselves.

Accountability is not anger.

It is expectation.

And expectation is what keeps systems honest.

There is a fundamental difference between public service and public power.

Public service is rooted in responsibility.

Public power is rooted in control.

One asks, “How do my decisions affect the people?”

The other asks, “What am I allowed to do?”

Communities thrive when service leads and power is restrained. They fracture when power becomes the priority and service becomes secondary. That is why accountability is so often treated as a threat — not because it is wrong, but because it limits authority that has forgotten who it belongs to.

“When government fears the people, there is liberty.

When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson’s warning wasn’t about rebellion or disrespect. It was about balance. In a constitutional republic, authority is meant to be restrained by the people it serves. When accountability disappears, power fills the vacuum. And when power no longer answers to the public, trust erodes and communities suffer.

When leaders forget who they serve — or why the role exists in the first place — communities feel the consequences. And they have every right, and every responsibility, to expect better. Speaking up for integrity is not rebellion. It is stewardship.

Public service is not about wearing a badge, holding a title, or guarding a desk. It is about carrying the weight of the community’s trust with humility, clarity, and heart. And in small towns, where people stand next to their leaders at the grocery store and wave to them on the side of the road, that responsibility is even greater.

Communities are strongest when public servants understand one simple truth: leadership is not granted by a hiring process. It is granted by the people. And it can only be honored by serving them well.