Winning some and losing some

In a way, we can't blame Councilman Jerry Reitz for his decision to resign from the McCook City Council. The council is in the middle of a long, drawn-out struggle to find a new source for the city's water supply, and it has been a marathon.

Reitz knew what he was getting into when he ran for the council almost two years ago, but after spending hours studying the problem and seeing many of his views ignored by the majority, he resigned from his seat on the council.

On the surface, it was an increase in his plumbing business that Reitz cited as his main reason for resigning, and we understand and wish him well. Anyone involved in starting and running their own business of any kind, let alone one as physically demanding as plumbing, understands that it takes all of one's energy and then some.

But the councilman wasn't deceptive about other reasons that led to the resignation. A strong proponent of developing a new wellfield in what was hoped to be a clean and plentiful supply of water far to the north of McCook, Reitz saw the plan he studied and favored, dropped at the first sign of opposition. He also saw the council reject his choice of engineering firms for the water well and treatment project now being developed near the Republican River.

"It's one thing to go the wrong direction, but it's another to keep making bad decisions. Enough is enough," he explained. He could no longer be a part of the "fleecing" of city water users, he explained.

But it's a fact of life in our system of government that elected officials all the way from club secretary to president of the United States often find themselves unable to have their way on every issue, even important ones.

That's where the art of political persuasion comes in. Politics and politicians get a bad rap, but they are vital to keeping our representative democracy in operation.

Successful politicians know how to know what battles to fight, what arms to twist and what issues to let slide in order to see his or her agenda advanced. They may win some and lose some, but they keep playing the game.