Ordinarily, when a long-time elected official nears the end of his tenure it is a time to reflect on the achievements made on behalf of the citizens.

Columbus Ward 2 councilman and vice mayor Joseph Mickens has had his share of accomplishments, but his self-centered behavior threatens to undermine whatever legacy he has built in his 16 years on the council.

All too often, his actions appear to be more “what’s in it for me” than “how does this benefit the city.”

On Tuesday, with just weeks remaining in his tenure, Mickens made a motion for the council to schedule a June trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with lawmakers about federal funding requests for the city.

Mickens wants to be on the team traveling to the nation’s capital, though he was defeated in his re-election bid and will be off the council after June 30. In fact, only one current member of the council, Ward 3’s Rusty Greene, is guaranteed to be on the new council when it meets for the first time on July 1. At least half of the next council will be new faces.

Lame-duck visits to Washington look far more like pleasure travel on the city’s dime than justifiable travel for the benefit of the city.

As if that weren’t reason enough to scuttle the idea, the Trump administration’s wide-ranging slashes to agencies throughout the federal government seriously jeopardize grant funding. With the uncertainty and chaos caused by these cuts, it is probably the worst possible time to be lobbying Congress, which to this point has stood idly by as agencies and programs have been slashed.

All this was noted in the discussions, of course, not that Mickens was impressed. Nor were Ward 1 councilperson Ethel Stewart, Ward 4 councilman Pierre Beard and outgoing Ward 5 councilman and mayoral candidate Stephen Jones, all of whom voted to approve the trip.

Realistically, it’s hard to imagine that anything could be gained by a trip that could wind up costing taxpayers thousands of dollars.

These are the kinds of self-serving stunts that greatly undermine public confidence in city government.

It is likely this will be Joseph “Show Me The Money” Mickens’ last opportunity to engorge himself at the public trough by putting personal interests squarely ahead of public service.

He will be remembered as the man who never said no to a pay raise. In 2017, even though the item wasn’t on the agenda, Mickens motioned to give the council a raise. That wasn’t the first time he had pulled that stunt. He also did the same thing in 2013. In 2013, the council voted to accept the pay raise only to rescind the raise due to public outcry. The only dissenting vote to nullify that raise? You guessed it. Mickens didn’t want to let go of the raise.

Last year, he cast the deciding vote to provide himself with $200 in extra pay daily for filling in as mayor when Mayor Keith Gaskin was out.

From pay raises to trips, Mickens has been nothing if not consistent.

Elected positions, particularly at the local level, should not be considered in the same light as an occupation. The primary goal is public service. The pay that goes along with these positions is an acknowledgment that there should be some compensation for the work these people perform, but it has never been intended to be a working salary or a travel fund.

Public service should be accompanied by the knowledge that those who serve should be willing and able to make some sacrifices for the good of the citizens.

We can find no evidence that Mickens has ever embraced this idea, which is unfortunate not only for the city, but for whatever legacy he may have left behind.

We can only hope that the next council puts service above self.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

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