Commentary: There Are Some Good Guys Out There

By Mitch Traphagen  (mitch@observernews.net)

In writing stories for the front page of the Observer News, the Sun City Center Observer News and the Riverview Current, I have three objectives. For each story, each week, I try to hit at least one of those objectives. The objectives are 1) to inform the readers, 2) to tell about a problem AND what they can do to help and/or 3) to entertain the readers. Hitting one of those goals is important, it's great if I can hit more than one in a story. This philosophy has also been the publisher's philosophy for the past several years.

I try to write good news. The Observer doesn't have the investigative resources of the St. Pete Times or the Tampa Tribune - it's rare that I can work on a story for days or weeks. Given that, however, we have to write under the same general journalistic guidelines.

Particularly in the stories that inform or tell of a problem, they must contain a maximum of replay and a minimum of reflection. In other words, those stories should tell what happened without the influence of what I think about it. If I somehow insert my personal opinion, I better be on pretty firm ground.

But there are some things that require reflection. With these stories, there is little substance to tell you about - rather there are things that I have observed that are worth writing about. In cases such as this, there is a maximum of reflection and a minimum of replay. But even here, I still need to remember my three goals listed above.

I'm writing this because I think that it's important for people to know that there are some good guys out there.

I've had a brief opportunity to see Alan Levine at work. Levine, formerly CEO of South Bay Hospital is now the Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Bush. In this case, Levine was presented with a problem and then went about doing what he could to help. It wasn't earth-shattering from a state-wide perspective but was very important to the person who called. Levine made no promises but he did listen and he did follow through. He would not accept a thank you - he said that this was his job and no thanks are necessary.

He meant that. Levine demonstrated that he is a public servant who really believes in serving the public. It's important to note that this wasn't a person with connections or influence. This was a person who needed help.

A man of his word, someone who says and does what he means, is apparently becoming a rarity these days. Alan Levine has proven that he is that man, a man of his word. Whether its handling the huge job of a $20 million expansion to a hospital, talking about his deep concern for people having affordable access to health care or just taking the call of a distraught constituent, Levine has and continues to demonstrate his character.

We were lucky to have him. South Bay Hospital is a better place because of Levine being there. Today, Gov. Bush and the state of Florida are lucky to have him. It's likely to be a better place because he was there. No one could ever dream of having a better measure of character than that.

There is a lot of bad news today. Here's a bit of good news: There are still some good guys out there. Fortunately, at least one of them is serving the public and doing what he can to help.