Whitewater, Wisconsin, population 14,454, is many things.
A Crock-Pot is not one of them.
When a bureaucrat sees a community, but no individuals other than a few town fathers, he makes himself a cook, and actual people mere ingredients in a slowly-cooked stew. Chop up this, mash up that, throw in the spices of self-promotion and arrogance, and let it simmer over the course of the day.
Actually, let’s be clear: when a cook-bureaucrat makes a concoction like this, he doesn’t see the community clearly. He sees himself as a chef, maybe even an artist, and those around him as ingredients. (Alternatively, he may see himself in even grander terms.) When someone tells you that he exists for community betterment, he’s probably someone with that sort of view of the world.
That’s because the diversity, the unique aspects of a real community of individuals cannot be reduced to a project like betterment, as that one-size-fits-all idea ignores individuality.
It’s merely the soft autocracy of selfish pride and personal ambition, proclaimed as a supposed altruism.