Judging from the number of names in the recipient list of his email announcement, this will probably be widely known in, oh, about five minutes, but Greensboro attorney and City Council representative Mike Barber announced today that he is closing his law practice in December and taking an eighteen month sabbatical to explore opportunities and travel with his family. He did not run for reelection this year and his term expires in December.
Good for him. My first from-afar and mistaken impression of Mike was that he was as kind of a cheese loaf of a politician when he was a county commissioner. I have since come to admire him as a business man and employer; and, most admirable to me, as a superb public servant. During his tenure on City Council, Mike was an independent thinker with the emphasis on thinking. His allegiance was first and foremost to the facts and his ability to evaluate them with reason. He was not out to make friends or to advance the interest of a particular group or district. He was motivated, it appeared to me, simply to exercise his best judgment. That's a rarity and very much appreciated.
Have fun, Mike.
But shouldn't he have represented his district? They voted him in to represent them.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying he did or did not represent them, because he wasn't my rep (thank God) but I found your comment, "He was not out to make friends or to advance the interest of a particular group or district, " very interesting.
I think that comment alludes to the fact that Barber, while representing his district, did what he felt was best during tough times, such as voting to fire Mitch Johnson, or his controversial stance on looking into uses of the White St. landfill.
ReplyDelete--Brandon Burgess
I see your point, anon. Perhaps I could have put it differently, that Mike was good at looking beyond the interest of his district, not betraying them while still managing to think about the city at-large.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification.
ReplyDelete