A Millenium Primer For Elected Municipal Officials

About the Book

 The Millenium Primer for Elected Municipal Officials is the natural product of twenty years of public service and living and working in the political maelstrom called small town politics. Matthew Bonnet takes each of the normal operational divisions of the typical municipality and explores its deepest recesses. He searches for the humor and irony found in each area, but at the same time he exposes its weaknesses and strengths.

Bonnet exaggerates and overstates, but he does not lie. As ridiculous as some of his examples and anecdotes may seem, they are true. Sad. But true. Many good men and women serve their communities as elected officials for several years without having a clue as to some of the things Bonnet exposes in this Primer.

There are no sacred cows left standing when Bonnet leaves the room. Civil Service, City Attorneys, Fire Departments, State regulators and inspectors, Congressmen, and even the Great Generation, all fall prey to his pen.

Those who know Bonnet understand that his sarcasm and honesty is tempered with love and respect for those with whom he has spent most of his life working. But that does not buy them a free pass from the scrutiny of the dreaded Primer.

About the Author

Matthew Bonnet is a fourth generation Texan. He was born in Tyler, grew up in Dallas and moved back to the rolling hills and pine forests of East Texas twenty-five years ago to raise his family after four years of military service that included a tour as a combat infantry officer in Vietnam. He attended Tyler Junior College and has degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington and Southern Methodist University. His leisure hours include riding the back roads of East Texas on his touring bicycle, flying, sky diving, playing golf, and tending his bonsai plants.