It seems that in just a short period of time, all Hell has broke loose at City Hall. I don't really know if this will lead to any positive change in the police department. There was a time in Lumberton where you couldn't ride through town without being harassed. Even elderly ladies, mothers with carloads of kids seemed to be getting pulled over without cause. Then that subsided and it became endless road blocks, some in very dangerous places like near the underpass that is currently being worked on. Even early on Sunday mornings, when folks were trying to go to church, there would be road blocks up. But crime still abounded, burglaries were increasing, murders occurred on crowded street corners. So I don't know whether to say this change in force will lead to positive or negative change. We shall see. Of course, we are all hoping for positive change in this city, and that MUST begin at City Hall and the Police Department.
Because personnel issues are supposed to be handled in executive session and not discussed outside of that session, how is it that there is so much conjecture as to the how and why of the firings and suspensions? Speaking outside of an executive session is akin to a juror discussing a case or a witness discussing something when a gag order has been placed upon them. Did someone really get suspended for asking why their health insurance was cancelled? I can't imagine that could be true. There must be more to it. And how would the Lumberton Informer know EXACTLY how that situation transpired? Did he hear all the sides to that story? I suspect not. Does anyone other than the officers and those in the executive sessions really know what happened? Did any of those people speak to Lumberton Informer? Maybe the persons who feel wronged in that situation did to air dirty laundry. Most likely no one will ever really know what prompted all of this, but we can hope that things will get better. If they don't, the Informer is indeed correct, we will have to cast our votes accordingly.
I also saw a comment that someone made about the Informer putting his life or the lives of those around him in danger. Unfortunately I am afraid that when you take up the pen, or keyboard, or phone for that matter, to speak out against people in charge, you may in fact become a target. Even if you are legitimately discussing the facts and your opinions about those, you could be targeted. It happens to editors and authors all the time. But in this case, it goes so far beyond discussing Board meetings and opinions about them. The Informer's blog has now passed into a realm of being, shall I say, incendiary? He's allowing commentors to post horrible things about people that have no relevance to his points. Allowing comments about the City Clerk sleeping with the police officer? Really? That adds credibility to the blog? That is some highschool level rumor mongering that has no place in the adult world. Ridiculous things like that completely undermine some of the really good arguments and discussions that have occurred there. Attacking someone for wanting to secure their office when it contains personnel records and water customer information? That building is a public building where anyone can walk into it! I pay a water bill here in town. My information better not be available to any Joe who wants to jimmy a lock! Why did everyone want to say she was accusing city officials or workers of breaking in? Any person off the street can walk in there and get up to no good when the doors are open or if someone forgets to lock an outer door at night.
Finally, the discussions of workers sleeping on the job, hanging around the office and such. When I am at work, I see workers here all the time taking lunch breaks and smoke breaks. If I were someone just riding by in my car, how would I know whether you are on the clock or not? How would anyone reporting these things know for certain that those people aren't taking legitimate breaks, or have asked for some vacation time to take a little longer break? I know lots of people that, when feeling ill, rather than go home, they will run down and take a nap in their car during their lunch hour. They aren't on the clock. And if I didn't know they weren't...yes it would look like they are just burning up time.
As I said, there are some really good arguments sprinkled throughout the Informer's blog. There are problems in this town, and everyone knows it, even the people that work in City Hall, even the elected officials. Civil discourse is a must if you want to make things better. And CIVIL is the last thing that the Lumberton Informer has turned out to be, partly due to the fact that ridiculous comments are being allowed to post. No matter how many times you say that you are not responsible for other people's comments, ultimately the vast majority of those looking at it are going to hold you responsible. Why not screen out those horrible, rumor-mongering comments? Just come back and sum them up in your own words if they do have some merit? Not willing to put your stamp on them that way? Might as well if you are going to get blamed for them anyway. Talk is so cheap, especially in a small town. And it is often completely WRONG! Word on the street is just that.
Well, that is it for now. It will be a long time until we will have a chance to vote for change in Lumberton. I truly hope that we can make it to those elections with clear ideas of what we want and how we want to accomplish the goals we set.
