Paul Scott comment: The outgoing Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors is the best governmental body I've seen in my more than three decades of covering news in Decorah

Do you ever get the feeling that politics gets in the way of governing?

That certainly seems to be the case in many situations--especially the higher the political office.  Rather than acting on what is best for the public, it seems too often public officials are more concerned about what's good for their re-election.

That's why it has been so refreshing the last eight years to attend meetings of the Winneshiek County Board--my favorite group of five elected officials in all the years I've lived in Decorah.

There's an important reason they have been my favorite--because they always act to find what's best for the public, not what's best for politics.  That doesn't mean they always have agreed, but it does mean that they have been united in their desire to do what's best for the public--not necessarily what's best for their re-elections.

So I will miss this version of the Winneshiek County Board and I'm calling on you to join me in thanking them for a job well done.  Doing what's best for everyone as a whole is a concept we could all benefit from.  Thanks to John Logsdon, Dean Thompson and Mark Kuhn--as well as Floyd Ashbacher and John Beard--for showing us it can be done!