Hamilton County Commissioner Jim Fields will not be running for a third term in 2018, a pledge he says he made clear when he ran initially in 2010.
In a field where politicians at federal, state and local levels scratch, claw, lie, cheat and steal to keep their seats and their relative power, we think this is refreshing.
Indeed, we think different voices cycling through elected positions would offer a broader spectrum of ideas, suggestions, improvements, changes and advice than having the same person hold onto a seat as long as he or she is physically able to drool a "yes" or "no."
"I just believe that government is best when citizens do the job for some period of time and then they get out to let somebody else do it," Fields told reporter Paul Leach of the Times Free Press. "I think you need fresh blood, I think you need fresh ideas. I don't want to overstay my welcome."
The District 2 representative is unlikely to be seen overstaying his welcome, though. He is one of the quieter members of the commission, preferring to ponder what he hears and to speak when he has something to say rather than to be heard or to be seen.
Again, that is refreshing.
Fields, an attorney, said he would devote more time to his law practice once he concludes his term. Although many of the commissioners have full-time jobs in addition to their elected positions, we have acknowledged on repeated occasions how much time a commissioner - if one wants to do the best job possible - must put in for commission meetings, neighborhood meetings, community gatherings and time to study issues that come before the body.
It's practically a second full-time job.
For his part, Fields said he is proud of the money the commission spent on new schools, additions and renovations to schools, as well as investments in volunteer fire departments in the county, during his tenure.
"Those kinds of things are very positive," he said.
Fields, like others who prefer term limits, said he believes the country's Founding Fathers didn't have a permanent political class in mind when they were writing the documents around which the country is governed.
Anti-Federalist Melancton Smith, for instance, worried about repeatedly electing officials who would become "inattentive to the public good, callous, selfish, and the fountain of corruption."
Similarly, Declaration of Independence author and later President Thomas Jefferson felt abandoning the rotation of office-holders "will end in abuse." Yet, he also felt there would be "virtue and good sense enough in our countrymen to correct abuses."
We thank Fields for doing his part.