Government can get decisions right once it puts politics aside

Say what you want, and we do, government sometimes gets it right.
In the past week, two state agencies and Huntington’s mayor took action that deserves more than an honorable mention. Public officials often are qualified for office and never contribute anything more than a horrible example.
In the three instances we cite below, the public officials behind these decisions have set good examples.
In the most visible instance, not only did dozens of firings and widespread outrage result from a photo of correction officer cadets giving Nazi salutes, but the state took the next step.
That is, ordering future training in the curriculum for corrections department staff about the Holocaust.
True, the regional Anti-Defamation League had to reach out to the state with the idea and has agreed to provide the materials.
Yet, the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety didn’t hesitate to declare it is “committed to taking all steps to accomplish this.”
In another case, the state Ethics Commission fined Brooke County’s sheriff $5,000 for billing the county for his own personal liability in a vehicle accident. He will also undergo ethics training.
After losing control of a shopping cart , causing it to smash into a parked car, while buying personal items at a store, rather than leave a note or attempt to locate the owner that sheriff left the scene.
Local police, using surveillance video, linked the sheriff to the damage and contacted his office. The sheriff told the owner to forward the $2,000 bill to him for the damages and he would make it right.
Instead, he invoiced the Brooke County Commission for the damages and when asked for a full report claimed he was buying materials for the department at the time of the accident and backed his cruiser into the car.
He also said he exchanged information with the owner of the damaged vehicle at the time. The sheriff eventually paid the $2,000 bill himself when questioned further.
Finally, Huntington’s mayor wasted no time shutting down a bar where seven people were shot on New Year’s Day.
The mayor issued a cease and desist order to the establishment after discovering business licensing issues and failure to pay taxes on top of the shooting.
He also plans to work with city council to ensure no new bars are permitted to open in Huntington for the foreseeable future and require more extensive background checks of people applying for business licenses.
The owner of the Huntington bar where the shooting occurred pleaded guilty to a heroin-related charge in federal court in 2016.
The lesson here is a lot of issues can be fixed easily enough, once you get past the politics and do your job.