A Thank You Note to 250 Years of Public Servants

This Fourth of July marks 250 years since a handful of colonies decided people could govern themselves. We will celebrate with fireworks and flags, commemorative ceremonies and concerts. But before that, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the people who keep our country running: public servants. 

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Today, we want to say something you might not hear often enough: thank you.

• To the local election officials across the country working to get guidance to voters and poll workers who need it, in language that actually reaches them. 
• To the public health agencies getting program money out the door, coordinating strategic planning, grants, and institutional knowledge so no county is figuring it out alone. 
• To the counties empowering their agencies to choose collaboration to cut homelessness by double digits and are proof that the work gets done quicker when the walls between agencies come down. 
• To state veteran services agencies and their community partners, working toward the day when every veteran experiencing homelessness has a place to call home. 
• To state health agencies and the counties they work with, moving heat warnings and supplies fast enough to keep a dangerous day from becoming a deadly one.

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This is the part of government that doesn't make the news. When ballots get counted correctly, benefits arrive on time, and life-saving warnings reach people before the heat does, life goes on. The invisibility of everyday public service is sometimes the surest sign of a job done well.

These essential government functions are ultimately the work of people, not systems. Every one of the last 250 years has depended upon public servants working every day — too often with a fraction of the support they deserve — to ensure the gears of democratic government keep turning.

We started Civic Roundtable because we want to lighten the load for those public servants. To help build a future where America's public servants have the support they need to keep our state agencies running for the next 250 years and beyond.

So on this anniversary, we thank the public servants who got us this far, and those working to support our communities today, thank you!

— With gratitude, the Civic Roundtable team