During a recent meeting, I listened to two administrators talking about projects. In that conversation, the first person singular pronoun "I" featured prominently therein. "I installed new HVAC equipment on the building," or "I replaced the bridge."
The administrators in question were not on a roof turning wrenches or pouring concrete into a form for a bridge abutment. They simply were engaging in a (disputed) Louis XIV moment, i.e., L'Etat, c'est moi.
Local government is a team sport. Regardless of one's role on the team, we build bridges and we maintain buildings. When giving credit, you. When describing work, we. When accepting responsibility for a failing, I.
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