Texas Action Blog

Ron Swanson is a hero of mine. For the better part of 6 months I’ve actually been part of the “Draft Ron Swanson for President” movement (so far we’ve been unsuccessful but still trying…) For any of you unfamiliar with Ron and the message he has for America, I am sorry for your ignorance. It needs to be fixed and that is why I’m writing this post. 

Last night I was talking with Dustin Matocha about Dan O’Leary’s firing of himself as Keller’s City Manager and he rightly pointed out that Dan was acting exactly as Ron Swanson would have. Many thanks to Dustin for inspiring this article! (Follow him on Twitter!)

“What exactly will you be cutting (out of government) and how much of it and can I watch you do while eating Pork Cracklins?” - Ron Swanson (Parks & Rec Episode 2.23)

It is all too rare an occurrence in government to see real, selfless leadership. We love it when Presidential candidates talk about cutting departments or a department director returning part of his or her budget but we don’t often see people do things that benefit the tax-payers when it’s to their personal detriment. 

Earlier this week, Dan O’Leary fired himself. He is the City Manager for Keller and he realized that the redundancy of having a City Manager and two deputies was causing Taxpayer dollars to be wasted. In an act of genuine leadership, he fired himself and notified the City Council that his last day of work would be April 20th. 

I’m not sure if Dan knows who Ron Swanson is or whether Ron inspired his action (how cool would that be?!) but I know Ron would be proud! 

Mr. O’Leary did a great service for the City of Keller and has inspired a lot of folks through his Swanson-esque leadership style. I applaud him for him and hope you will too!