The People's Voice Needs to Shut Up

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  "Old School Dad" and "Ken's Korner" will be on hiatus the week of June 24th.

DISCLAIMER:  The views and opinions expressed in this week's column are strictly that of the author.

I'm not going to single this guy out by name.  Or anyone else for that matter.  We all know the players in this ongoing game.
"I represent the working class," the man says.  "Not the country club class."
Look pal, I'm part of the working class.  You don't speak for me.
Not now, not ever.
"The man" is a one of the top elected officials in our county's government.
He campaigned on a platform of governmental transparency, accountability for taxpayer dollars, tax fairness, and support of social welfare programs, to name a few.
Don't get me wrong.  These elements by themselves aren't bad.  It's good to stir the pot every once in a while.  It keeps everyone on their toes.
What is bad, however, is when this same individual, a Democrat, uses this agenda to get himself elected to office, and then performs a series of deeds that have made even the most liberal of liberals say "what just happened?"
Racking up a laundry list of expenses that he said he would fight to control, yet vehemently protested when his two fellow board members successfully voted to make his (and their own) expenses more readily available to public scrutiny.
This came after he singled out a department head for overspending for hotel accommodations at the state capital for a recent conference.
I will also point out that this man also accused one of those board members of using his connections to cover up a drunk driving charge by granting a substantial raise to another department head, whose husband just happens to be a state trooper that was investigating said incident.
In Pennsylvania, with the exception of juvenile court, all criminal records are open to the public, whether they're summary or felonious in nature.
Those of you who know what I do for a living, know that I know how to find out these things.
I have to this date, found no evidence of a DUI arrest against the accused.  Nor any of a cover-up.
Now he's been sued in civil court by his fellow board member and the second department head for his very public accusations.
And he wants the taxpayers to pay for it.  The very same taxpayers to whom he promised accountability for their tax dollars.
But it's not his fault, so he says.
"I'm entitled," he went so far to say in a public meeting.
He says his remarks were part of his official job duties, while not keeping in mind that these remarks, when unfounded, are libelous and actionable.
"They want to sue me and take my house and everything I worked for away," he complains bitterly.
And they shouldn't?  Because you singled them out by name and sullied their otherwise-clean reputation and put their integrity in question?
Public officials have a hard enough time keeping constituents happy as it is.  The last thing they need is one of their own making unfounded statements that not only hurt them, but the board's reputation as a whole.
The man complains about everything and advocates nothing.
The accused has helped raise money for a World War II monument honoring local Merchant Mariners, and while voting in favor of only half the man's request amount of money to pay for a police dog, the accused has pledged that he would again help raise money to make it happen.
And a week later it did happen.
The man makes no effort to be friendly with his associates or fellow board.  The other two men on the board are a different matter.
The accused..."Hey Kenny...how's that little girl of yours?"
The chairman...."Good morning, Ken.  How are you?"
And I get a handshake from both.  I don't even get so much as a 'by-your-leave' by the man.  Neither does anyone else.
Social ineptitude doesn't cut it in public service.
Someone in the county's upper ranks once summed up his feelings on what recent public meetings have become.
"It's a circus now," he said.
I would have to disagree.  I say this because the accused volunteers as a clown for Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children.
Proof that even clowns have class to some degree.
Thus I digress.  No circus.
We're in freak show mode.
Whatever the case, it's not a laughing matter.


NEXT WEEK:  Ken's List