Maybe I don’t see the need to throw so much venom at Sarah Palin because Hartford has our very own Sarah Barr, Mayor Perez’s spokesperson. Today’s Hartford Courant reports yet another ethics violation associated with Perez, this one regarding his lack of transparency. Barr, using tremendously flawed reasoning, writes:
If this novel concept was adopted by the FOI Commission, no Governor, Mayor, or any public official could convene a group of volunteer advisors to receive advice and counsel on important issues in a private setting
Duh! That’s the point!
What is the problem of “receiv[ing] advice and counsel on important issues in a private setting” in this case? For starters, bringing a discussion about an arena to a bunch of corporations before getting support for such a venture from residents is a major dis. Secondly, in all my years on earth, I have yet to be convinced that a corporation of any kind (be it Wal*Mart or Whole Foods) is going to put the interests of the people before Interest. And finally, if it is true that “[b]usiness leaders have said they needed closed-door meetings so they could speak with candor,” we should be concerned. Does this mean that they are less than honest with the public? What is said behind these closed doors that we should not hear?
In the class that I am teaching, the first assignment is to write a “personal choice narrative.” Students have to basically choose a significant decision they’ve made in their lives and write about it. We talked yesterday about what constitutes a significant choice, and what doesn’t. For example, deciding what color prom dress to wear is not significant, but choosing which parent to live with after a divorce is. Perez and company would have failed in my class yesterday. When we have poverty, illiteracy/low literacy, low homeownership, and a variety of other important issues, it’s insulting to classify an arena as important.
Shady business alliance. Shady mayor. Shady mouthpiece.
