My recollection of Chicago is that pretty much anything associated with the city had the mayor's name on it somewhere. Essentially, each and every mayor (there were three or four while I was there, ending with Daley Jr.) used city property to provide free campaign advertising at great cost to the taxpayers, who had to pay for repainting or replacing every sign in any city office every time a new mayor got elected. This was particularly noticeable for me, I think, because I grew up in Seattle, where this sort of thing pretty much never happened. Seattle's early settlers included a lot of progressive (in the late 1800s early 1900s sense) Scandanavians who did not put up with such foolishness and their views seem to have lingered on.
In light of this past experience, I was a bit surprised to read yesterday that the University of Michigan has named a directorship after its sitting president, Mary Sue Coleman. I doubt very much that this is something that Coleman herself suggested, but I think it is still a bit unseemly, particularly in a time of economic trouble for Michigan. We really do not want the voters to see us as being off in a bubble of self-congratulation as we ask them for more money for the university. Even the post office, that great and undying legacy of 18th century industrial organization, does not put US presidents on stamps until they die. I am not sure the university requires quite that strict a rule, but I think it should wait until someone has been out of office for a couple years before the naming starts. And while I do not think any direct harm will result from this particular case, I worry that it sets a bad precedent for future behavior. Such a rule would also ensure that the university will not have to regret or even undo a naming decision that turns out to be premature due to later changes in performance in office.
Whew.
8 years ago
