5. Pay attention to the people around you. Next to winning MegaBucks or being the only one on your block with a massive-screen TV during football season, there is no surer way to accumulate sudden friends than by being elected to public office. Keep your old friends, but keep an eye on those who suddenly seek entrance into your circle. Be nice but be suspicious. If someone says they love ya, find out why.
6. Watch out for mental lapses, especially when it comes to bribes. If you're in public life for several years, you can forget stuff, especially as you get older. (I have to write myself a note to take daily vitamins. Same thing.) You could even be bribed and not realize it. Guy with a flat nose walks up to you at a busy reception, hands you an envelope, winks and says, "Mr. Goopy says thanks." Without even thinking about it, you stick the envelope in your pocket, thinking it's a Christmas card or something. Someone captures the moment on a cell phone camera, and you're cooked. That kind of thing could happen to anyone. Don't let it happen to you.
7. Don't hire relatives. Again, this might seem obvious, but apparently some people in public office still try to do it. Tell your sister or brother they need to find their own way through life. Love them, counsel them, then send them to careerbuilder.com.
8. Don't vote on anything that can benefit a close friend, like a tax break or municipal contract. If you do this, ignoring Rule No. 3, then don't jump on a train or plane for a fabulous celebration weekend with the friend on the same day of your vote. Wait a couple of days.
9. Don't give your former campaign chairman a contract to provide services to a government agency, especially your own. Again, if you ignore Rule No. 3 and try to pull this off, then make the guy go through a competitive bidding process, however rigged in his favor. Otherwise, it will look 100 times worse when some nosy newspaper reporter or government auditor discovers the subterfuge.
10. Don't flaunt it. Big cars, fur coats, expensive wardrobe - you're just going to call attention to yourself. In all my years in Maryland, I know of one pol who got away with stuff on a big scale. The feds were after him forever and could never nail him. The guy lived modestly, owned a simple rowhouse, and his big pleasure in life was a medium-size cabin cruiser he took out on the bay. Died a millionaire - never raided, never indicted, never embarrassed, and he never embarrassed his constituents.
dan.rodricks@baltsun.com
Dan Rodricks can be heard on Midday, Mondays through Thursdays, noon to 2 p.m., on 88.1 WYPR-FM.
