Minnesotans deserve leadership they can be proud of

It's fair to say Minnesotans are fiercely proud of our home state. Remember that time a reporter labeled grape salad the quintessential Minnesotan dish? Or when Red Lake County was called the ugliest county in America? Those out-of-touch outsiders quickly learned "Minnesota Nice" doesn't apply post-insult.

It's become a fun tradition for governors to brag about the latest rankings naming Minnesota the best something-or-other in the nation. Visit the mn.gov homepage and you'll see the boastful headline, "Best Run State," which links to a USA Today article ranking Minnesota No. 1. Naturally.

Still, the embarrassing series of scandals that have recently tarnished state government nags in the back of our minds.

While we are busy defending ourselves from naysayers who make it their business to rag on things wholly out of our control, like weather and sports teams (there's still hope for you this year, Twins), it's maddening to watch two consecutive governors refuse to pull our "best run" state government out of this complete tailspin.

Please fight the urge to defensively dismiss this as hyperbole.

Consider these stories in just the past few weeks:

• A top official at the Department of Human Services who was put on paid leave in March collected a taxpayer-funded salary of $42,000 to stay home waiting for an investigation to begin.

• A former Medicaid medical director at DHS cited "serious systemic issues with the leadership culture" of the agency.

• The second-and-third highest-ranked DHS officials submitted their resignations, saying they disagreed with the direction the agency is going.

• The DHS commissioner and chief-of-staff abruptly resigned without explanation.

• A high-ranking official in the Department of Corrections was placed under investigation after a complaint that alleged she was lobbying on state time.

• A DHS whistleblower said higher-ups approved illegal grants worth millions of taxpayer dollars, disregarded her concerns, and then retaliated against her when she spoke about it publicly.

And there's been no progress to hear of on stopping the "pervasive" child care assistance fraud Fox 9 uncovered in an investigative report over a year ago.

If our state is so wonderful, so much better-run than every other state, then why in the world do we put up with these continued, embarrassing leadership failures?

Tribalism, for one. If someone outside our Minnesota tribe attacks someone within it, we rush to their defense. But we tend to look the other way when we witness wrongdoing within. In theory, Minnesotans despise tribalism, but in practice, we're the worst offenders. It's one of our most primitive instincts, and it easily leads to corruption.

Also, it's complacency. At some point in history, state government ran pretty well and we've convinced ourselves nothing has changed. Evidence to the contrary continues to pile up, but it's easier to be complacent than face the music.

When asked for answers to the latest turmoil at DHS, Gov. Tim Walz had nothing to say except, "I don't do drama."

Sorry for interrupting your afternoon, governor — but this is your drama. You run these departments and you promised Minnesotans unprecedented transparency.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

Those who instinctively choose tribalism and complacency shrug off each issue as if it's happening in a vacuum. Their mind-set is that a government bureaucracy of this size will naturally make mistakes, like the various accidental data breaches that put thousands at risk for identity theft. It will employ some bad apples, like the workers who threw elder-abuse complaints in the trash because they didn't have time to investigate them. Even a certain amount of fraud is to be expected and not worth extra effort to pursue.

That mentality misses the point.

The size of state government doesn't excuse its leaders from being diligent in their work; they should be diligent precisely because of the enormous impact government has on each and every one of our lives. Also, transparency isn't a nice-to-have, it's a need-to-have.

We deserve leadership that doesn't take our Minnesota pride for granted, but cares enough to earn it.

Katie Fulkerson is communications director for Center of the American Experiment.