April 17, 2008
| Mayor Embodies Quiet Excellence |
| To the editor: |
| Sixty years ago when baseball was the still the national pastime and arrogant, bombastic, hormone-saturated buffoons were few and unfavored, there labored for the St. Louis Cardinals a player named Stan Musial. Every day Musial would show up at the ballpark and do a Hall of Fame performance. |
| Yet he never bragged. He never argued with an umpire no matter how bad the call, nor went after a pitcher no matter how close the brushback. He ended his career near the top in home runs, batting average, and RBIs, and in the esteem of his peers, both teammates and opponents. |
| When asked to describe Musial the ballplayer and Musial the man, a sportswriter summed it up with the term "quiet excellence." |
| People who could live up to the descriptive of "quiet excellence" are unfortunately few, and getting fewer in our coarsening culture. But we are fortunate to have one amongst us in our current mayor, Steve DeBenedittis. |
| Like the rookie Musial entering the game with disparaging terms like "inexperienced" and "unproven," in a very few years he has shown by his daily performance that one can be an effective, productive, attentive, and unifying leader without the publicity or flamboyance so often attached to a political creature. |
| Like Musial, he can let his record speak for itself. Solid solutions to crippling problems like illegal immigration and unconstrained spending; an attentive hearing to the voices and needs of the community; a respect for the hard-earned dollars of the Herndon taxpayer; harmonious deliberation of the town's business—these have marked his brief tenure as mayor. It is easy to forget the discord and division that scarred Herndon just two years ago. |
| Quiet excellence, or noisy division. That is the choice for Herndon. |
| Bill Campenni |
| Herndon |
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Call The Observer at 703-437-5886 or e-mail the editor.
Call The Observer at 703-437-5886 or e-mail the editor.