Playing Left Tackle and DHS Director

Right On: A column by Bill Vickery

How many of you can name the left tackle on your favorite football team? Or how many of you can name five starting left tackles in the NFL? Not easy to do, is it? For those of us who love football and pay close attention, cheer and devote countless hours to the game, we love it. But often, we don’t pay attention to what makes a team work. A great left tackle can most often be the key to a great offense.

As that slightly pushy woman in The Blind Side explained, the left tackle protects the quarterback’s blind side (assuming the quarterback is right handed — and most are). So that great left tackle can play a fantastic game, never giving up a sack, blocking well on every play, never committing a penalty and then never hearing his name called once on a television broadcast. The left tackle usually only gets recognized when he makes a mistake and gets his quarterback hurt. Thus is the life of a critically important and wildly unsung player on any football team. Greatness isn’t measured by notoriety, only by how little you are recognized.

In Arkansas, that left tackle in state government is the director of the Department of Human Services. See, that agency is so big and houses so many controversial programs that it is almost impossible to manage. Imagine if “Mean Joe” Greene, Reggie White and Lawrence Taylor were all lined up and the DHS director was charged with blocking all three and keeping his quarterback safe? That is the football equivalent of the daily grind inside that agency.

Last week, John Selig, the man who held that job for more nearly a decade, announced he was stepping down. And now, new Gov. Asa Hutchinson gets to pick his person for this all-too-important (yet unsung) job.

When you consider the director heads an agency of more than 7,000 employees and covers programs ranging from foster care to Medicaid, it has to be a person with vision. Just like that left tackle, this person has to see all around in order to both to implement huge plans for greatness and see when a program or issue could become a disaster.

This person must also be on the same philosophical page as the governor. Again, just like that left tackle who needs to know what the quarterback is doing so he can protect him, the DHS director needs to understand, implement and execute the governor’s plans for change. They have to be of one mind or disaster will strike.

A high level of intellect and experience is a must when considering someone to manage this difficult agency. It helps in football or politics when the person running things has the benefit of experience both good and bad. A few lumps along the way helps to keep this leader ahead of potential mistakes.

Lastly, but certainly not the least, is a high level of integrity. The massive amount of tax dollars that flow through the agency requires someone with the fortitude to admit mistakes (they are inevitable — even All Pro’s give up a sack every now and then) when programs fail. They must ferret out the corrupt who are willing to steal from the public. And a big part is dealing with political leaders who (rightfully so) demand transparency and efficiency in their government.

So that’s it. All the governor has to find is a person who has brilliant vision, has rock-solid integrity and — oh! — is willing to toil in relative obscurity if doing the job properly. Just like the taxpayer in politics, the people in charge can see greatness, even when someone’s name isn’t called.

Bill Vickery is a political consultant and appears on Political Plays on KARK on Friday mornings. Listen to him on The Sunday Buzz from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on 103.7 The Buzz.

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