When Hatred Blinds - Opinion

Recent actions by our Ruston council give new depth to the saying “blind hatred”. It was bad enough when Ruston Connection bullies would come by town hall to insult employees. But now that these folks are running the show, they appear bent on destruction. All logic and sense of overall good for the community is swept aside.

The current focus for the council’s hatred is the mayor. They don’t like that “he’s not doing what he’s told” (quote from Bill Walker). In retaliation, the council has:

• Fired the town planner without arranging for a replacement, halting any new building permits that need plan review.
• Require any street cut to have formal council approval, including emergency sewer repairs that now must wait until the next council meeting.
• Reduced public comment to 4 minutes per month.
• Accepted and then terminated a $75,000 state grant.
• Will loose the town attorney in a few weeks and contrary to state law, the council will hire the replacement if they can act in time.
• Negotiated a contract with a different prosecuting attorney behind the mayor’s back.
• Are set to increase taxes 666% on the business they have threatened to shut down.
• Want to remove the mayor from office by permanently changing the form of government to council-manager so they can have absolute control of all government functions.
• Wasted thousands of dollars trying to evict The Commencement sales center in clear violation of the lease, resulting in a payment to the condo’s of almost $16,000 (not to mention cost for Ruston’s legal team).
  

Council Member Albertson exemplifies the current council hatred. He has used his trial lawyer skills to the fullest, dripping distain and ugly jabs at every opportunity. From calling town planners “Freddy Kruger” to berating the mayor for providing limited input on the sensitive issue of whether or not the school building should be “ripped down” (quote from Jane Hunt), he has epitomized the face of this council.

Albertson is an insulter extraordinaire. He spent two years in the audience before his appointment to the council, using the then frequent public comment to blast the mayor at every meeting. He is a whiz at taking a small part of an event and twisting the picture to suit his point. He enjoys pushing people’s buttons, getting them flustered or shut down. He is a master at making faces, negative interruptions and body language to convey how disgusted he is with those he hates. No doubt about it, he’s good at what he does.

I’ve disagreed with this mayor as often as I’ve disagreed with any of the individual council members. The difference is that he doesn’t hate me because of it. I’ve seen Mayor Transue offer compromise after compromise to this council – only to be met with complete alienation. Like it or not, he was elected to the office of mayor and has the right to speak and lead the executive branch of Ruston’s government.

It is not only unethical to cut out all his input, but it hurts more than just the mayor. The entire community is damaged (including these council members) when we kill any voices we don’t like. People watch the attacks and are afraid to speak out. We get tired of the fighting, embarrassed by the petty jabs and tune out important decisions. Even more than halting building permits and sewer repairs, the resulting silence the greatest damage from the council’s blind hatred.

That's my opinion. What's yours?

Karen