From today's Forum page in the Rapid City Journal, it seems somebody (Alderman Deb Hadcock) doesn't support fellow alderman Sam Kooiker's bid for mayor.
She particularly takes issue with a recent column by freelance Journal op/ed writer and former state senator Alan Aker:
Who is trying to influence the election? Mr. Aker wields more power than Hamilton or Adelstein when the Journal is the only print medium in town and Aker controls the information to the people. What about Mr. Aker’s personal contribution given to Sam’s campaign? Are we a little biased in our endorsement of mayor?
"Aker controls the information to the people?" I like Alan, but I didn't realize he had a lock on information to the people. I thought I shared at least a little of that role of subverting the people, but I guess I've been fooling myself.
What little I know of either Kooiker or Hadcock has left me with the impression that they're both good folks. There are a lot of dynamics behind this year's city elections (it's been more like a circus--or insane asylum--in Rapid City's city hall lately), and I'm sure I don't know the half of it.
But I wish city hall would get its collective act together and quit being such a public embarrassment. I'd like to see our city government playing grownup to get the job done instead of backbiting each other all the time. As the Journal article on the Stan Adelstein emails points out, city government should be less about partisan bickering (nothing wrong with fighting for what you believe in) and more about the nuts and bolts of making a city run.
0 comments:
Post a Comment