EDITOR:

Having chaired a planning commission and zoning board of appeals downstate, I can identify with the county commissioners and their work. You’re not in it to make friends, you are in it to make decisions. Not always popular. Decisions can be made either quickly or properly, with quickly usually ending in a revisitation of the case at hand. Deliberation takes time if an appropriate result is to be expected.

Case in point was the dismissal of a county employee. Since this involved an “at will” employee it, as well as any disciplinary measures are appropriately handled purely within the confines of the committee without outside influence. This provides the employee with privacy should inappropriate or personal actions be embarrassing if divulged to the public. This is entirely ethical. It is disappointing to find members of the public choosing to dismiss this practice and thinking they have some right to influence internal policy and decision making.

Further, Chairman Moyle has every right (as do we all) to make comments using public media – no different than letters to the editor. He is entitled to his opinion. I have seen comment on social media sites which involve Mr. Moyle, his ex-wife and even his young daughter that are at the level of 6th grade, immature schoolyard taunts. The public should condemn these atrocities and seek to have the posters sanctioned. Perhaps parents are unaware their children are playing with the computer. Cowardness hiding in anonymity. I condemn you.

The general public is not aware of the complexity of the rules and regulations under which the commission must function. “Demanding” the recusal of a member from a decision denies that member the right to choose to participate or not. It also is dictatorial in its application – any leader could, for any contrived reason, exclude persons from the process.

The ADA requires governmental structures to provide physical access to public activities. Other means of providing information are optional and situational. I doubt that every governmental activity statewide is covered by Zoom. The commission has a fiduciary duty to spend money within budget. Eliminating certain costs is appropriate. The ADA was not created to simply prevent “inconveniences”.

Persons claiming to be “center-progressive” and address both sides, never seem to provide a “conservative” analysis of the situation. Most simply pile on vitriol derived from self-centered interpretation of policies and procedures.

I’ve dealt with whiney malcontents in the past. They were all committed psychologically to victimhood. Their protestation continued, even to the extent of threatening physical violence, well beyond the unsupported slander they so easily expel.

Respect is earned, not automatically provided, and is reasonably revoked at the first sign of contempt for a person’s opinion or decisions if contrary to their own.

Michael A. Glass

Nahma