My Remarks to Mayor & Council, Feb 7, 2011

My name is Art Stigile, and I live at 312 W Edmonston Dr.

Last weekend I was shocked to learn that Joe Jordan has filed a Freedom of Information request asking for copies of all email between me and Rockville City Government.

You only need to know 4 things to understand what’s going on here.

First, Joe Jordan has been loudest advocate for wasting taxpayers’ money to bail out the golf course.

Second, Joe Jordan is Chair of the RedGate Advisory Committee, which as a group has been the loudest advocate for wasting taxpayers’ money to bail out the golf course.

Third, Joe Jordan is the Mayor’s Campaign Manager, and the Mayor has been loudest advocate on the Council for wasting taxpayers’ money to bail out the golf course.

Fourth, I have been the most persistent opponent of this bailout, saying that taxpayers’ dollars should be dedicated to uses that benefit taxpayers, and golfers should be expected to pay for the full cost of their recreation.

You don’t have to be a political genius to see that Mr. Jordan’s action is designed to intimidate and silence critics of this bailout. It’s a perfect example of why many, if not most, Americans view politics with disgust.

That said, I want to be clear that I fully support Mr. Jordan’s request. He absolutely has a legal right to see public records, and this includes every email that anyone in the City sends to the Mayor and Council. So by all means, give him every one of my emails. My only suggestion is that you also make them available to the public by publishing every one of them on the City website.

But let me also say this, Mayor. Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right. Maybe it meets Mr. Jordan’s personal code of conduct, and maybe some folks think it’s acceptable for political campaigns, but it isn’t good enough for Government work. Each of us who works for the Government knows that our actions reflect on the government body that we represent, whether we are a paid employee or a volunteer. For that reason, our behavior is subject to a higher standard of conduct.

I believe it is totally unacceptable for an official representative of the City to go on a fishing expedition as a means to silence critics of a policy proposal that is advocated by the Committee he chairs. For that reason, I recommend that you discharge Mr. Jordan from the RedGate Advisory Committee. And if you fail to do so, I don’t want to hear you bemoan the lack of citizen participation in City issues. You can’t say that you want more citizens involved if you at the same time endorse these kinds of actions by an official representative of the City.