It’s very easy to be angry at the generic term “government worker” or the word “taxes.” It doesn’t take a genius to spew venom and put down decent people who do their jobs, or to complain about all taxes as if they are the bane of our existence. In fact, it takes a jackass to take complicated things like the delivery of services or how we pay for them and dumb it all down to pithy catchphrases like “it stinks.”

There are great government employees doing a difficult job everyday and getting lumped into the likes of common criminals by the vox populi. There is absolutely no rational reason that Niagara County is one of the highest taxed municipalities in the entire nation — let’s be clear about that. But lumping normal everyday government workers into that equation isn’t fair and has been a pet peeve of mine for quite some time. It’s especially grating when politicians say government stinks. Who the heck do you think is responsible for this highest taxed situation?

But we digress. I’m not here to defend anyone doing any job whatsoever. But it is refreshing when a meager bureaucrat stands up to the largest bully on the playground and kicks his butt. When the rule of law holds up instead of the rule of intimidation, political connections or the almighty dollar.

Two Erie County bureaucrats who know a thing or two about politics — the two Board of Elections commissioners — have taken on the biggest bully of all, at least around these parts — B. Thomas Golisano and his political deputy, G. Stephen Pigeon. By and large, in a dirt-poor community such as ours, a man with a billion dollars to his name and a loud voice gets his way. Around here, those credentials get you nearly anything you want.

So it was heartening to read this week that the lawsuit brought against Golisano and his political committees by Republican Ralph Mohr and Democrat Dennis Ward will continue. A motion to basically cease and desist was found unwarranted and baseless, and the investigation into illegal campaign funding will continue. Score one for the little guys!

And people thought nothing could make Republicans and Democrats work together.

At the crux of the matter is that Mohr and Ward spotted campaign violations by Golisano’s committee and its director, Pigeon. According to Mohr and Ward, they were flouting the law and using money however they wanted.

This isn’t an attack on Golisano. Our community is better for having had him around for a few years. We love hockey so much we can overlook his sharp comments about our area and its high taxes and his personal desire to save money by relocating to Florida. Heck, a lot of people do that when they reach retirement age, and all of that is perfectly acceptable.

What gets tough to swallow for most people are the bully tactics associated with his politics. Example:  when Mohr and Ward noticed what they interpreted to be campaign violations, Golisano didn’t just disagree, he decided to alert the media, get television cameras in tow and storm the Board of Elections offices demanding they resign. Is there really any need for such an over-reaction? I’m sure everyone has come across the customer who demands to see the manager and then demands someone be fired for some perceived digression. It’s not fun to do your job when television cameras show up with the richest man in town who is demanding you resign, all because you were really just doing the job you’re supposed to do. It takes a backbone not to cave under that pressure, and backbones are a rare commodity in local politics.

Since I used the high-minded “vox populi” earlier, I’ll do it again: “Thou doth protest too much.”

A little inside baseball for casual readers: you’ve really got to do something wild and uncharacteristic to get the attention of the Board of Elections. The commissioners at the board are like umpires: they are best when they aren’t part of the game. Most, if not all, try very hard to stay in the background and out of the limelight. You have to really do something wild to get their attention and make them take action.

This ruling only means that the investigation can continue. If nobody did anything wrong, all parties are served by a swift and open process. But if the political umpires see something wrong and want to question it, that sounds like we should let it play out, not demand their jobs.

Tom Christy is founder of FAIR Government, a foundation dealing with local government issues. Visit www.fair-government.org. Contact him at aim1986@mac.com.