Editorial: What Mayor Rooney needs to remember in Springfield
Tom Rooney's always been one of our favorite suburban mayors.
Pleasant guy; wide-eyed; boyish enthusiasm; seems genuinely open to other opinions, not just his own; an energetic fellow with a thoughtful disposition.
He blessed us once with a parenting lesson he gained from being a teacher: When kids screw up, don't take it personally. It's not personal; it's something that almost every kid inevitably does from time to time, and it's not intended as an affront to you.
What a marvelous observation. The kind that Rooney passes along with such wholesome grace.
So now, Rooney is headed at age 48 from his municipal tenure in Rolling Meadows to Springfield as Illinois' newest state senator.
When Matt Murphy of Palatine announced he was stepping down after more than a decade as state senator, at least six Republicans expressed interest, many of them with more visible political pedigrees than Rooney.
But as was the case with the Republican presidential contest earlier this year, one by one each of the early favorites dropped out of the contest.
Only unlike the case with the presidential contest, Rooney didn't outlast them with insults and larger-the-life swagger and braggadocio.
Precisely what took place behind closed doors is difficult to say, but we suspect that Rooney turned back his competition with effervescent niceness.
(It probably didn't hurt that he also is president and treasurer of the Republican organization in Palatine Township, which carries the highest weighted vote in the 27th Senate District.)
To Rooney (and to the other new legislators who will be elected in November), we offer advice we've gleaned from countless conversations over the years with countless other legislators:
No matter how hard or easy you thought it was to get things done in Rolling Meadows, don't expect it to be as easy in Springfield.
It can be a frustrating place.
Set in for the long haul. Progress comes in inches, not miles, and only for the strong and steadfast.
Put in the time to develop a strategy for effectiveness. Figuring out how to get things done is a higher priority than figuring out what issues to push; if you don't do the former, the latter won't matter.
Nothing gets done without relationships. Build them. On both sides of the aisle.
Guard your values. Be forever true to who you are.
You're a public servant first, not a Republican. Your allegiance is to the people, not to a party.
Things will go wrong. That's inevitable.
When they do, remember, as a wise man once told us: Don't take it personally.