Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM April 2020 | Page 26
CHERYL E. JOHNSON, PCC
Galveston Co. Tax Assessor Collector
[email protected]
ENTREPRENEURSHIP in
GOVERNMENT?
E
ntrepreneurship is the process of designing,
launching and running a new business. It can
also mean taking an old idea and bringing
it into the next century (think rotary dial
telephone →mobile phone→smart watch).
Is it possible to bring the entrepreneurial spirit into a
government office as a way to transform bureaucracies?
Absolutely!
The Galveston County Tax Office has been run like
a business for the last 15 years despite many efforts to
“contain” our entrepreneurial spirit. Although all office
functions are legislated, there is absolutely nothing
standing in the way of delivering services efficiently and
profitably – or at the lowest possible cost.
Every candidate for public office has the opportunity to
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MOMENTUM
be entrepreneur-minded meaning he or she could (and
should) be focused on developing a better mousetrap,
obtaining support to build it then making it happen.
Depending on the term of a particular office, the door to
making government better is opened quite frequently.
As a voter, it is your duty to view candidates for office
as an investor assessing a business venture. Does the
candidate have a vision and plan? Does the candidate
have the ability to execute the plan, the leadership to
execute the plan and the courage to make adjustments
when necessary?
The next time someone asks for your vote, be the
investment banker. Ask yourself whether this person
has an entrepreneurial spirit. If not, go to the next
candidate.