Opinion: Bad Leadership is Infectious
Letters to the Editor August 10, 2022
It’s a bit unusual to have one-quarter of your county supervisors facing recall petitions from their constituents. It’s also unusual that Prince William County has no Ombudsman or Ethics Office. So, what other recourse do our citizens have?
In the Navy, when a commanding officer is relieved
for cause, it is usually not for specific misdeeds but for leadership failures
that adversely affected subordinates or enabled their substandard
performance. You’ll hear terms like “loss of trust and confidence in the
ability to command” or “cultivating a poor command climate.” There is a
recognition that bad leadership is unacceptably corrosive to an organization.
Thus, Chair at Large Ann Wheeler’s conflicted
financial trading is not only problematic by itself, but as an indication of
the shoddy values, she demonstrates to the those she presides over.
Examples of behavior that may not constitute legal
violations but are potentially more damaging than those that do, include:
• Setting low ethical standards that invite
unscrupulous individuals to exploit them for personal gain
• Using personal wealth or power for electoral advantage or leverage over more
vulnerable colleagues
• Using a powerful position to pressure apolitical staff into relaxing
professional standards to advance a personally or politically advantageous
agenda
• Suppressing legitimate inquiries into improper conduct and performance
The Coalition to Protect Prince William County will
be collecting recall petition signatures at the upcoming County fair. See
the livestock and then seek us out to help send Supervisors Pete Candland and
Ann Wheeler out to pasture.
Bill
Wright
Gainesville
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