Food for the Soul

I've written about the Sloan Public Service Awards several times in the past, so I won't wax rhapsodic here, but I could not let the annual awarding of these prizes to exemplary New York City officials pass without some comment.  This year was the final year of my three-year term on the selection committee, which is organized by the Fund for the City of New York under the leadership of Mary McCormick.  Each year, the process culminates in a day-long bus trip to the work places of the winners along with a ceremony at Cooper Union with the Mayor.

Anyone who has ever read an upsetting story in the paper about government waste or corruption or incompetence would be well-advised to attend the ceremony.  There is so much good work being done across this vast city by civil servants that goes underreported.  This year's winners of the Sloan Awards exemplify this reality.  When I was a teen, Ronald Reagan famously said that "government isn't the solution to our problem; government is the problem."  Anyone who still believes this should  read the stories of the Sloan Public Service Award winners.  Kudos to them all.