Fire Starter recently commented on Mayor Hannon's letter to the editor regarding Sheriff Harder. We concluded that Hannon lacks character and fails to recognize it (and often tries to punish it) in others. What we did not realize is that Mr. Hannon appears to be living in an ethical glass house.
Fire Starter has learned that yet another Village employee has been targeted by the Mayor and his henchmen. This time it is a lowly maintenance man in the police department. His crime? Apparently attracting the ire of a Village Court Clerk for reasons that are yet unclear.
This clerk, who has media connections of her own, used Village Court records or restricted computer databases to pursue her personal grudge against this maintenance man. She apparently found two minor prior criminal convictions and, through her media connected husband (who is also a Hannon appointee), attempted to get this maintenance man fired from a second job. In other words, this dynamic duo unethical conduct used Village computers, time, and/or state resources to pursue a purely personal grievance.
So what does our pillar of public integrity, Sheriff Hannon do about this "breach of the public trust"? He squashes the investigation into his friends and goes after the lowly maintenance man. He "opens his own investigation" (sound familiar?) and finds that our lowly maintenance man has, alas, forgotten to "clock out" on his time sheet. This, Sheriff Hannon determines, is a grievous offense and a "breach of the public trust" and tantamount to stealing. The only solution is to fire our lowly maintenance man so as to attempt to inoculate himself and his friends against any future claims of malfeasance.
What does this illustrate? That Mayor Hannon is in no position to be questioning the ethics of other public servants. That he is willing to go to any lengths to attack his opponents and protect himself and his cronies. Fire Starter believes that Mayor Hannon's glass house reveals some very ugly truths about his character. Mayor Hannon needs to examine his own ethics and the ethics of his cronies and ask himself -"Am I fit to be Mayor?". Fire Starter doubts he ever was.
Fire Starter has learned that yet another Village employee has been targeted by the Mayor and his henchmen. This time it is a lowly maintenance man in the police department. His crime? Apparently attracting the ire of a Village Court Clerk for reasons that are yet unclear.
This clerk, who has media connections of her own, used Village Court records or restricted computer databases to pursue her personal grudge against this maintenance man. She apparently found two minor prior criminal convictions and, through her media connected husband (who is also a Hannon appointee), attempted to get this maintenance man fired from a second job. In other words, this dynamic duo unethical conduct used Village computers, time, and/or state resources to pursue a purely personal grievance.
So what does our pillar of public integrity, Sheriff Hannon do about this "breach of the public trust"? He squashes the investigation into his friends and goes after the lowly maintenance man. He "opens his own investigation" (sound familiar?) and finds that our lowly maintenance man has, alas, forgotten to "clock out" on his time sheet. This, Sheriff Hannon determines, is a grievous offense and a "breach of the public trust" and tantamount to stealing. The only solution is to fire our lowly maintenance man so as to attempt to inoculate himself and his friends against any future claims of malfeasance.
What does this illustrate? That Mayor Hannon is in no position to be questioning the ethics of other public servants. That he is willing to go to any lengths to attack his opponents and protect himself and his cronies. Fire Starter believes that Mayor Hannon's glass house reveals some very ugly truths about his character. Mayor Hannon needs to examine his own ethics and the ethics of his cronies and ask himself -"Am I fit to be Mayor?". Fire Starter doubts he ever was.
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