Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010

An editor remembers Deacon Jones

When he was a school board member, Deacon Jones and I sometimes crossed swords. I remember, in particular, the time he gave me a talking-to during a school board meeting.

I had argued, in an editorial, that the school board needed to muster the political courage necessary to establish priorities for building new schools in Johnston. Mr. Jones made it clear to me, and everyone else in attendance, that all Johnston schools were equal in his eyes.

I was younger then, and the very public criticism stung a bit. But while Mr. Jones was clearly miffed by the editorial, he wasn't mean-spirited in the least. In fact, while his criticism was obviously meant for my ears to hear, I don't recall that he mentioned my name even once. He kept referring to the newspaper.

I appreciated the fact that he didn't make our differences personal.

I appreciated too something that Mr. Jones said during those early years of school-reform efforts in North Carolina and Johnston County. People can be resistant to change; Mr. Jones was not. I'm paraphrasing here, but Mr. Jones said this of some school-reform proposal at the time: "Let's not be afraid to try it. If it works, we'll keep it; if it doesn't, we'll throw it out."

Back then, most politicians I knew embraced the status quo. They went kicking and screaming toward change, and they certainly never made a leap of faith. By contrast, I think Mr. Jones believed that thoughtful change carried the promise of a better school. And he could take a leap because he had faith in the women and men teaching our schoolchildren.

I always respected Mr. Jones' willingness to change. It no doubt served him well in business, and I'm sure our children are better off because of him.

On a personal note, Mr. Jones, the car dealer, once did me a favor. I was looking for a particular used car, a brand that Mr. Jones did not sell, had no allegiance to. A scan of his used-car inventory came up empty. But rather than try to sell me something new or used from his stable of brands, Mr. Jones said he would look around. Within a week, he had found the exact car I wanted at the price I wanted to pay. I can't think of a finer example of customer service.