Good and well-intentioned friends and acquaintances look at you and think, “There’s a formerly very busy person. They probably miss being so busy. Maybe I should suggest something to eliminate some of that annoying downtime.”
For example, a friend, an ardent fisherman, asked me if I enjoyed fishing. He probably could not imagine life at this point without quite a lot of fishing. To me there is nothing wrong with fishing, and when offered a recently caught walleye or grouper (preferably cleaned), I am delighted to cook and eat it. I don’t mind the act of catching a fish. It’s rather exciting. It’s the long periods of boredom in between that I don’t care for. I even buy a Michigan fishing license every year because my grandchildren like me to sit in the boat and bait their hooks. But when my friend asked, I had to say, “Not really.”
Photo submitted
Another friend nominated me to become treasurer of the Wexford County Democratic Committee, whose meetings Laurie and I have attended since moving to Michigan upon retirement. The friend admitted that no one else had been willing to do the job in the last couple of years, which did put me on my guard. But having managed (or been part of the management of) the funds of several organizations over the years, I thought I could probably handle this and help an organization I want to support. I agreed to take on the role.
It is, in fact, not very hard to keep track of the little bit of money the Wexford Dems have, plus I am good at Excel. More importantly, by reason of that position, I get to be involved with all the leaders of the party locally, giving me some influence that I hope I am applying beneficially.
However, money in politics is not like the regular money that you and I receive and spend without telling anyone else about it. The Michigan State Bureau of Elections (MSBofE), to which all county treasurers are responsible, is keenly aware that money can also be used to influence the behavior of elected officials and tries to control it.
Every donation to the county committee that will be used to support a candidate for office or a ballot issue must be tracked and reported in excruciating detail. That’s a lot of information to keep track of, so complex software platforms have been devised for the reporting thereof, and treasurers are expected to learn all their functions and quirks and who to ask when you get stuck. Mistakes and missed reporting deadlines can result in large fines to your committee.
Because citizens are entitled to know where the money that is flowing to politicians comes from, that information becomes a matter of public record.
Furthermore, your employer, if organized as a corporation, is also entitled by Supreme Court decision to participate in American politics with all the rights of any human citizen, except voting themselves. The MSBofE, however, does not like it if your employer might be directing some of your political donations. Therefore, they also require treasurers to report who employs each donor so they can look for suspicious patterns and catch those nasty companies trying to leverage their influence with politicians by forcing their employees to donate as well. It sure would be easier if all donors were retired!
This is challenging. But I’m not quitting. I don’t like to quit, and having gotten into it, there is some satisfaction in doing a complicated and necessary job (mostly) correctly, particularly when no one else will do it.
But honestly, there may be more to it than that. I certainly don’t miss being extremely busy but having had the privilege of devoting heart and soul into some very admirable institutions, including an amazing little school in Kentucky, I am not done wanting to make a difference.
And, in case you’re interested, I’m still friends with both the fisherman and the nominator.
