OPINION
Time for Some Officials to Stop Whining, and Start Solving Problems
As mayor of a city of more than 100,000 residents, I never forget for a moment that every one of them is my boss.
This understanding is common among most elected officials and should be universal.
Yet the last several weeks have revealed too many — in varying levels of government — not only don't seem to know who their bosses are; they have surprising contempt for many of their constituents.
This cannot be downplayed with just the heat of the moment and requires some soul-searching by all of us.
The Saturday before Election Day, Nov. 5, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., said that anyone voting for Donald J. Trump was anti-woman and anti-American.
"If you’re voting for these Republicans in New York, you are voting for someone who supports Donald Trump and you’re anti-women, you’re anti-abortion, and basically, you’re anti-American," Hochul declared on MSNBC. As an aside, might we consider such hyperbole and grandstanding is why that cable network is confronting a plummeting audience?
Offensive as those comments are to millions of her constituents — women and Americans included — the millions more of Americans who gave Trump a clear win on Election Day have cause to dispute it.
And the negative rhetoric didn’t end when Americans made it clear they wanted Trump to move America forward. Was winning the popular vote on top of the Electoral College not enough?
It continued the day after the election when the Democratic governor stood alongside New York Attorney General Letitia James to announce the formation of the "Freedom Initiative," a team they argued will "offer protection for reproductive rights, civil rights, immigration, gun safety, labor rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and environmental justice," and essentially protect New Yorkers from the Trump administration.
"If you try to harm New Yorkers or roll back their rights, I will fight you every step of the way. We are ready to respond to any threats of political violence," Hochul said at that press conference.
Of course, all should oppose violence, but why is she supposing the majority-elected administration would cause it?
The anti-GOP commentary is not new for Hochul.
In 2022, she told 5.4 million New York residents who supported Republican candidates that they were not New Yorkers and should leave.
"Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, OK?" she said ahead of a special election in Congressional District 19.
"You are not New Yorkers."
As Mayor of Boca Raton, the reality is my community benefits from Hochul’s lack of leadership and silliness, so I probably should thank her. Our thriving city is seeing significant increases in both our property values and job base, in no small part due to New Yorkers fleeing high crime, taxes, and, likely, in one form or another, her hostility.
People are coming to Florida, investing here, and making the Sunshine State their home because we are welcoming - and elected officials here get things done.
The Sunshine State has experienced exceptional growth, with the population surpassing 23 million earlier in 2024.
Florida’s Demographic Estimating Conference found that the state added almost 359,000 people last year.
People want to be here to get away from the politics and governance of the past that Hochul embraces.
And sadly, she is not alone.
Following the election, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., combined disrespect and disdain with profanity, calling the 64,000 of his bosses who voted for the Green Party's senate nominee "Dipsh*ts!"
Former Rep. and now Senator-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., branded Trump voters "dumb" and the "worst people in the world," in a 2016 interview after Mr. Trump won his first presidential election.
During a 2016 fundraiser, Hillary Clinton said Trump supporters belonged in "A basket of Deplorables."
And in a big apostrophe controversy, there is still a debate about whether President Joe Biden was calling all Trump supporters "Garbage" or just criticizing the supporters' garbage.
The answer depends on whether one believes the career stenographers or short-term political appointees — and it may take an investigation into tampering with official records to find out.
In either case, we appear to be in an era when many elected officials forget their place and the place of the people they represent.
And elected officials who keep showing contempt for those who put them into office may soon find themselves out of it.
The people stand over them; we elected officials report to the people — all of them.
While we can't make 100% of the people happy all the time, or in the words of Paul McCartney, "You can’t please everyone, so don’t try," we can, should, and must remember that we report to them — and all of them matter.
To be a public servant is a sacred oath, not an opportunity to lord superiority over people who disagree with you or do not follow your voting advice.
A number of Republicans who didn’t support Trump, and Democrats, managed to strike the right tone without criticizing their bosses’ votes.
In Boca Raton, this mayor knows his place — as the people's servant, and one who owes and gives them respect, even those who didn’t vote like I did this time or any other.
Nothing about this view should be atypical.
Why?
Because our great city of Boca Raton can take pride in the respect and care we show each other. Our nation, however, becomes weaker when those entrusted with the great responsibility to serve start thinking more like Gov. Hochul and Sen. Fetterman.
No matter how fierce a campaign is or how bitter an electoral loss might feel to a devout partisan, everyone who serves in this nation must remember the document we swear to uphold begins with "We the People."
The preamble to the United States Constitution has those letters the largest for the greatest of reasons.
It's the people who reign supreme under our nation.
May they always.
Scott Singer serves as Mayor of the City of Boca Raton, Florida. He was first elected in 2018, reelected in 2020, and again without opposition in 2023.
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