Laura Miller Quotes

As taxpayers, we pay our elected officials to serve the people and protect our state and our interests.

From my very first day in the Mayor's office, I have worked closely with the Council members who share our vision of a city hall that really protects taxpayers and cares... yes... about the little things that make a big difference in people's lives.

Too many people in government seem to think they are above regular folks, and I said I would expect humility in the way each member of my team served- that they would recognize that the taxpayer is boss.

The people want government that works for them at every level.

The legitimate object of government is "to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they cannot, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves.

My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.

What is the purpose of public service? It's to solve problems for the people you represent and certainly in the United States Senate, thinking about your state and thinking about your country as well.

I think there's been a decline in the public's access to what's being done with their tax dollars, what's being done in their name. I hope that that will be repaired.

My task as a citizen is to get the government to do more good and less inefficient and wasteful work.

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

Public officers are the trustees of the people.

Presidents come from the people and the should return to the people.

The more responsibility you can move toward local government, the better of you're going to be … City governments do better than their State governments in terms of accountability.

We need government to do for the people what they cannot do for themselves.

A minister of state is excusable for the harm he does when the helm of government has forced his hand in a storm; but in the calm he is guilty of all the good he does not do.

We have a Congress to serve the people who provide the money.

I do not consider that letters written to public men on matters affecting the public interest and threatening the public welfare are private letters.

… a right-minded and true-hearted statesman who has had as much sovereign power placed in his hands as you have placed in mine should regard himself as the servant of the Senate; and often of the people as a whole; and sometimes of private citizens, too.

We ought to find a way for government to work for the people rather then have the people work for the government.

There's a truth about public service that is often unspoken and rarely understood - that the role of our elected officials is about much more than balancing budgets and ensuring the delivery of essential services.

We need elected officials who care more about policy than politics.

Residents expect their state leaders to deliver solutions for the people of their state.

Spend a while listening to people in your district to make sure you understand how they are served well in government and how they could be served better.

Democrats and all public servants just need to be honest. If we have schools that aren't working ... we need to face the facts and fix them.

New York has been embarrassed by corruption and lags behind in too many important categories. We can do better.