Thursday, December 04, 2008

Apology is in Order

An unedited guest post by Sue Zentek:

When you pick up a newspaper you hope you’re reading accurate, fair and balanced information. Such was not the case when I read the Herald’s own editorial, entitled “Please, Just Do Your Job,” which commented on the November 12th town council meeting.

It’s one thing to give their opinion, but at least they should present both sides of what they called an “argument” at the meeting. As I understand it, after this “argument” there were apologies given to the councilor and they shook hands.

What was most disturbing at the meeting was the totally inappropriate remark that came from the council chair. The Herald seemed to totally ignore this in their reporting. It is the council chairman that should be apologizing publicly. Rather than repeat his remark, I would say that anyone interested in this meeting should request a copy of it or view it in part at Tim White’s blog. I would also add that since I can’t rely on complete information in the paper, I recommend the blog to anyone interesting in getting a more accurate review of town issues. It was unfair of the Herald to criticize this councilor for his efforts in getting information to the taxpayers.

I expect that as the economic situation worsens and the budget season begins, we will see many heated discussions at council meetings. If discussions bring about positive changes then that could be a good thing. I will likely be supporting the councilors who, as they did at the Nov. 12 meeting, continue to keep the best interests of the taxpayers in mind as they attempt to reduce spending. To them, I say thank you. To the Herald, I say please, just do your job and report the news accurately. To the council chair, I say take a breath, take a deep, long breath and apologize for your remarks.

Sue Zentek

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If he’s a gentleman, Mr. Hall will apologize for his public utterance of the curse, “G*d d*amn”.

He has deeply offended many people by disrespectfully using the name of God in public. Sure, most of us have uttered the phrase in private moments of frustration, but as self-controlling adults, we know not to do so in public.

The irony is that Matt was trying to cool down the heated exchange which preceded his utterance, but he only added fuel to the tensions by his utterance.

Matt, you carry the honorary title of “Mayor”. In our system and in the role you were playing in at that meeting, you were supposed to be a conciliator, not a shrill agitator. Take responsibility, do the honorable thing, and apologize for your comment. More people will respect you if you do.

Anonymous said...

This isn't just about religious sensibilities, it's about civil and professional conduct. Matt should man up and apologize.

Anonymous said...

This was about professional conduct, of the school superintendent. He gets paid too much for such babbling and if he read the NY Times the week he made his comments he would have come across an article concerning fraud by a school board in Texas making up Social Security numbers for new hires.

Too bad the Social Security numbers they made up actually belonged to honest folks in Pennsylvania. Our super should be proud to be in the same line of work as his fellow educator/fraud artists in Texas.