Cashing In

I finally found my calling. I’m going to become a trainer providing seminars to government officials. Apparently, it’s a very lucrative profession where you can earn upwards of $10,000 for three days of work. At least that’s what the North Carolina State Auditor authorized in payment for a “touchy feely” seminar that took place earlier this year.

Local television station, WTVD, reported today that Beth Woods, North Carolina State Auditor, approved a seminar dealing with personality types that was conducted by Dr. Marla Sánchez, of Spectrum Development. The website for Spectrum describes their training as follows:

“The Spectrum Temperament Development Model is a fun and exciting method for helping people better understand themselves and others.  In our interactive workshops, participants are introduced to the different personality styles using the language of color. They gain an understanding of their own strengths, needs, and motivators, while also learning to value the differences among the people around them.”

While acknowledging the importance of staff development, and promoting a climate that enhances teamwork, I can’t help but wonder if this is a wise expenditure by a government agency tasked with monitoring the judicious use of taxpayer money. Especially when the state budget is experiencing deficits of hundreds of millions of dollars.

When questioned about the value of the training is question, Beth Woods stated, “If we can get them working independently and meshing in a team environment and they become satisfied where they are, then hopefully they’ll stay.” Yet, just days before the seminar in question, several employees were laid off from jobs in her office because of budget cuts. There’s something wrong with this picture.

More and more, stories like this emerge that outline areas of government that just doesn’t get the message that spending is not a good idea when income is going down. In fact, there seems to be a sense of entitlement among government workers. The justifications for such spending are weak at best, and at worst often sound like the rantings of individuals with a tenuous grasp on reality. No wonder so many taxpayers are getting fed up.

While this kind of spending goes on, funding for mental health programs is being cut or eliminated. Educational budgets are frozen, and infrastructure, such as highways and bridges, crumble due to lack of maintenance funding. And there’s not much the average taxpayer can do, outside of holding politicians accountable at the ballot box. But often, citizens have a short memory for this kind of thing, and the guilty parties continue to be voted into office.

North Carolina politics is in turmoil, with former governor, Mike Easley, being investigated for possible corruption. Several former prominent politicians have been convicted and sent to jail for bad behavior in the past few years, painting an unflattering picture of our state’s political climate. And then stories like this seem to appear on almost a weekly basis. It’s really no wonder that the average citizen is becoming more and more cynical about government.

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