There is bound to be rhetoric, or garbage, no matter where you go to for business or pleasure. Any time you get two people working on the same thing or same place, you are guaranteed conflict, in my opinion. Personal feuds can spark that easily, as can political feuds, which are part of the game.
But when something mothballs into something that can make a newspaper front page, and keep that "record" spotless term after term, you know you have to clean out the political garbage that person stands for, with hopes they will never run again for office.
Former Detroit City Councilman Alonzo Bates is being investigated for the billionth time; this time over knowingly putting his gardener/yardman on the city's payroll for mowing his own personal lawn. Just as knowingly, Bates knew it was wrong & kept telling this hire that "I could get in trouble for this."
The shutdowns that can affect certain brains can be astounding. If Bates knew it was wrong, why did he do it? Why did he balance his "concern level" with satisfaction that the job was being done, without the funds coming out of his own pocket? If Bates points to himself as a self-made man, I would doubt that with no question. And if the yardman was truly Bates' friend, why would he allow this blackmail to take place? Why didn't he stop Bates at about the tenth mention of wrongdoing, and ask him to stop & think it over? Did that person not think that Bates' credibility could be at stake?
If a jury or related body can't figure out the obvious ending to this case without more than a few hours' deliberation, then they are just as clueless as this pair is.
It's all about the soap opera that Detroit politics has been ever since I was in grade school. Now I had the chance to serve some local governments in my old position as video coordinator, and I rang in with the minority opinion of equality. No favors, no special requests, nothing done at all without considering the needs of the others under my employ.
I truly was out there to help, and I'll bet my "story" would have been buried in the back page, behind all these sensationalistic articles we read today. Headlines have been cheapened, and I would not have wanted a part of it. The satisfaction level in my mind & heart surpasses what anyone else can write about me.
Morals in politics do not just apply to those in office, though. It applies to everyone working with their assorted staffs, trying to do their city good.
I've not ruled out a return to my old posts in the future; I loved being professional while providing professional services for a city. It's only too bad that honesty, fairness, and no behind-the-scenes action can't be placed on a resume for their perusal.
I would only end up being their political garbage.
