Nobody has ever stood beneath a leaking ceiling and said, “What we need here is a better communicator.”
We need a plumber.
Preferably one who answers his phone, brings the right tools and understands that the water running down the light fixture is the reason for his visit. When he leaves, the leak has stopped. We pay him. Civilization advances another 6 inches.
I have considerable affection for people like this.
The mechanic who gets a truck running because a crew needs it tomorrow. The nurse who sees something wrong and keeps after somebody until the patient gets help. The family member who handles prescriptions and appointments for an aging parent.
No podium. Usually no applause.
But the job gets done.
After nearly 50 years in the landscape business, I’ve developed a strong attachment to that last part.
We can hold meetings, circulate schedules, revise projections and explain that a critical item is somebody else’s responsibility.
Eventually, though, somebody must plant the damn tree.
Our customers keep us grounded. They visit the job. If the tree isn’t there, they ask why the tree’s not there. There is little room for creative interpretation when judged against plans and specifications.
Government can do this. Some of it does it every day.
Santa Clarita says it has removed graffiti within 24 hours of a report 99% of the time since 2015. Somebody calls. Somebody shows up. The graffiti disappears. Our community looks tidy and well managed. Imagine that. A government performance measure you can check while walking the dog.
Statewide, California Highway Patrol helicopter crews pull stranded people out of places where I wouldn’t willingly park my car, much less spend the night. Their work is dangerous, and the results are measured in people brought home alive.
We have public employees who know their jobs and do them.
But climb the political ladder and watch what happens. The cameras multiply. The explanations improve. Yet the job develops a mysterious inability to get finished.
Those CHP crews work for the same state as our governor. Same government. Same payroll. The difference is which way they’re facing: toward the job at hand or toward the cameras.
Remember those Epstein binders? Donald Trump campaigned on transparency with the Epstein files. In February 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi staged a rollout, handing binders to conservative influencers at the White House. Out they came holding “The Epstein Files: Phase I.” Very official. Nice covers. Flowing blondes and thick binders, ready for their close-ups, Mr. DeMille.
The material largely consisted of information already public. Even the Justice Department acknowledged that much had previously leaked. New binders. Old news.
Here in California, we specialize in announcing how much money we’re spending. A 2024 audit examined programs after nearly $24 billion was allocated to homelessness and housing over five fiscal years. Auditors couldn’t adequately assess the cost-effectiveness of several major programs because the necessary information wasn’t there.
Some programs helped. But with so many hands in the homelessness pot, who owns the outcome? That question should be making headlines every day.
If I told our customers I couldn’t say whether their money worked, I’d be out of business by Friday.
Then there’s high-speed rail. In 2008, voters were promised L.A. to San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes. The revised 2026 business plan anticipates passenger service between Merced and Bakersfield in 2033. Today, the project’s own inspector general warns the money runs out by December 2027.
I’m 70. My heart won’t be left in San Francisco by train.
Of course, these are complicated problems. I understand complicated. We’ve spent decades working through permits, weather, labor shortages and customers who want everything finished yesterday. Complicated requires management. It doesn’t excuse endless self-congratulation.
Donald Trump can turn almost anything into an episode of Donald Trump. Every appearance brings another opportunity to explain how wonderfully things are going. He calls his rambling “the weave.” The rest of us call it not answering the question.
Meanwhile, consumer prices rose 3.7% over the year ending in September. Tell that 3.7% fairy tale to families stretching a paycheck, or those of us paying fuel bills for hundreds of trucks. The checkout machine and gas pumps remain unimpressed by presidential reviews of presidential performance.
Closer to home, Gavin Newsom offers a smoother production. Far, far better hair. Better diction. Less shouting. He looks like he could sell the dealership its own cars. Thinks he’s “presidential timber.”
His administration announced this year’s budget with “zero deficit.” The Legislature’s own nonpartisan analyst had projected a $16.9 billion deficit just weeks earlier, and warned that the state faces a structural imbalance: Ongoing revenues can’t cover ongoing spending.
There are accounting distinctions involved. There usually are. Silicon Valley invented vaporware. In Sacramento, we’ve apparently developed vapor budgets.
I’m tired of grading these political figures by their performances in front of cameras.
Instead, show me what became more affordable. Show me the service that improved. Show me the problem you finished dealing with before scheduling the celebration.
The plumber doesn’t get to leave water pouring through my ceiling while he proclaims to the nation what a historic repair this has been.
I don’t care how good his hair is. I don’t care which party he belongs to.
Fix the damn leak.
Gary Horton is chairman of the College of the Canyons Foundation board. His “Full Speed to Port!” has appeared in The Signal since 2006. The opinions expressed in his column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Signal or its editorial board.
