After rereading Councilor Parker’s comments in this weeks Sentinel and regurgitating my oatmeal raisin cookie in disgust, I have to comment on a couple of things. Though Parker has provided a dearth of material to choose from I will try and limit this to just a couple.
Prevously I wrote about Parker’s rant here.
First, Parker asserts that “attacks made on city officials are unconscionable”. Notwithstanding that the city council meetings have been used to attack private citizens and the city council have condoned that behavior, I will argue that city officials are indeed fair game.
debate on public issues including public officials must be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open even if it resulted in false, vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.
The statement above from a court decision has been upheld across the land, particularly in elected officials and officials paid with tax dollars. Over the years suits claiming defamation of public officials have failed because
Proving “actual malice†requires proving the defendant made the statement with “knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard as to truth or falsity of the statementâ€
People get mad when they don’t believe their tax dollars are well spent and have every right to complain about it. Get used to it!
Lastly, (in this post at least), Parker stated that he felt it was his duty to speak out as he did at the council meeting, that he spoke from the heart. What makes Mr Parker believe he should be allowed to speak out and deliberately hurt a local paper, while other citizens may not complain about their officials? Those of us who have dared to speak out also do so from ‘the heart’ and have taken a lot of abuse for doing so, including being called names by a sitting council member.
Refusng to allow your fellow citizens a voice in city government is the very definition of a ‘good ol’ boy’ network, Parker. For the record, and this is from the heart, it is my opinion that Parker is a horse’s ass.
Thank you to the Sentinel for having the courage to do what newspapers have historically always done, reporting news and opinioin pertinent to all citizens, not just the chosen few.
Perhaps we should all boycott Century 21. Or picket. Or voice our complaints to the regional office…. 😉
Great letters in the Sentinel!
One point brought up causes me to wonder also… why does Reaves dispatch others to defend him? If he feels it is beneath him to listen to answer his fellow citizens and the people who pay his salary that is one thing… but why employ his wife, her buddies, a Eugene attorney and a city councilman to name a few to launch ad hominen attacks against those citizens? These people are not solving anything only creating lifelong enemies….
KUDOS to the Sentinel for printing all those letters!
There is talk that Mr. Parker and the beleagured admin of our community are influencing some of the business owners here with their “values.” Here’s hoping the business owners of our city understand that if they want to be influenced, there are a lot of us patrons who would be most happy to oblige them financially. Nothing speaks louder than a red bottom line.
Thank you for the moral support PotentialMalcontent!
I’ve heard that some of our administrators are considering jumping ship due to the controversy
That would be interesting to see and I can only hope that two in particular are heading for the lifeboats. The rest may be willing to work for the citizens but two of ’em treat their jobs like fiefdoms in my opinion.
Well…if the girls are allowed to publish the letters to the editor that I’m sure they have in abundance, we may get to see a repeat of Mr. Parker sooner than the next council meeting.
I’m not trying to be sexist here…at all…but there are a LOT of men in positions of power in our community that still think women belong barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. Personally, I just love to be around when they get the “reality check.”
I’ve heard that some of our administrators are considering jumping ship due to the controversy…something to ponder.
My heart and thoughts are with all of you…
Yes, your heart does have a voice lm and even Bruce Parker and his bullyesque, ‘patented’ stare will not stop it.
Honestly, does he really think that stare thing plays in Coquille? He tried that on me once when I passed him on my bike so he must have gotten some mileage with it somewhere. It doesn’t play with angry moms. We tigresses fear not the stealy stare of despots of his ‘stature’…..
My heart has a voice, and I am hoping it can speak for my cousin Leah Nicole. I will never stop fighting for “Justice For Leah”.
I think magix said it well lm!
to lm
There are so many things wrong with what Parker said and how he acted that I will have to do another post to adequately address them. That he feels his ‘heart’ can have a voice but the rest of us, you and Cory and all the others who have had serious issues should not, is despicable. What a selfish, self serving individual… no wonder he and Reaves are such tight buddies. Birds of a feather? Well, at any rate they deserve each other.
I personally think Mr. Parker is out of line, and he may very well think the same of me, oh well. I have watched my family suffer for 7 years, and My heart is broken as well. The girls at The Sentinel have done a great job for my family, the paper has been in circulation for how many years? I know longer than I have been alive and for a City Council Memeber to stop subscription iI feel is ridiculous, let alone acting in the manner he did at the City Council meeting on August 6th.
Evidently there is a recall effort afoot, though I believe it involves several if not all members of the city council. Given that elections are pending next year it may be impractical for this effort to proceed at this time but one thing is certain we have to locate some good candidates to run for these offices.
Does anyone know what Parker, for example, has actually done for the city?
Governance as usual or maintaining the status quo historically only serves a select few and the rest be hanged.
Gotta agree with ya on the horses ass! Wonder why he chose to speak out at that particular meeting? Why not at the one before, when all the “ranting” was going on from me?? Someone might have gotten an answer – he seems to start babbling when he gets angry! I like the picketing idea! Boycotting doesn’t seem to work well in this country. I’m curious to see how the next city council meeting goes. Perhaps Parker could spout out again for us who missed it last time! Personally I would love to see a rerun!