It's unclear whether John Helland knew who Max Weber was or that Weber, a German sociologist who died in 1920, developed the first modern theory of bureaucracies.
Weber argued that bureaucracies are the most efficient way to organize human activity, and Helland, who spent nearly four decades laboring in Minnesota's Capitol, likely would concede if asked that his career had been that of a bureaucrat, and proudly so.
Helland, who died June 27 at age 76, and others like him in government, are the dutiful — and smart — ones who write the laws and policies that legislators oftentimes can only imagine.
Considered nearly as kin by many legislators during his 38 years as a chief researcher and policy analyst in the Minnesota House, Helland was the "gold standard'' of reliability, said Rick Hansen, chairman of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee.