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 24 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.