The Ears Have It
A lot of people (and readers) think that a newspaper should be a “watchdog”… someone to watch over us all. Really, that does make a lot of sense. After all, newspapers are the “fourth estate.” We’re the ones who report on the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.
In my opinion, however, it’s not so much the eyes that are important – it’s the ears. I think a great newspaper, or any community forum, works best when they listen and then, in turn, provide a forum for others to be heard.
The chairman of the Platte County Pachyderms, Lee Pedego, made that point to me at last their first Thursday meeting held at The Skillet in downtown Parkville. The Luminary’s chief value, he shared, was not only in reporting Parkville news, it was in providing a forum for people to be heard.
Right on, Lee.
Let the word go forth to all people, of all political persuasions and perversity, that The Parkville Luminary is and shall always be a clearinghouse for thoughtful ideas, meaningful conjecture and fine political prose.
That said, in this space – really the only space I can control in the entire newspaper (yeah, you try telling my staff what to do…I dare you) – please allow me to share some opinions on the Platte County political landscape.
As I said before, not only must The Luminary have eyes, we must also have ears. And I have heard that our little ol’ newspaper was the topic of a brief and somewhat clandestine discussion at the recent board meeting of the Platte County Citizen’s Coalition (Pc3). I must say that I was happy to hear the news. After all, besides the editorial someone from the Pc3 finagled from the Kansas City Star, the only newspaper who has reported on the coalition has been the newspaper you now hold in your hands (and since it’s flu season, do me a favor and wash them when you’re done?). Obviously, we’re making an impact.
Now, as reported in this week’s episode of The Luminary, the Pc3 plans on speaking out about the stem cell issue and setting up a forum related to campaign ethics. The forum will be chaired by Pc3 chairman Mike Burke and he is about to embark on the noble task of soliciting donations and advice on how to best run such a forum.
As readers of The Luminary know, the Pc3 was founded based on supposed outrages perpetrated during the last Platte County election. As the story goes, the wicked Republicans of the North ran a dirty campaign that utilized the mail and the phone system to mount a last minute campaign that unseated their candidates of choice. The folks perpetrating the crime also proclaimed to be religious.
Oh, the horror.
In the spirit of wanting to inform both the Pc3 and our newest Washington D.C. subscribers, please allow me to remind everyone that when it comes to studying campaign ethics, the aspiring Platte County politician can do no better than studying the case of current Parkville Alderman Deborah Butcher’s 2005 campaign.
To re-open the wounds that Parkville suffered, Butcher launched a smear campaign against her opponent, wrongly labeling him as the catalyst for building a cell tower in the historic downtown area, just below her subdivision. After engaging in questionable “flyering” practices that basically threw the entire municipality into a total upheaval which eventually led to the adoption of a city-wide ethics ordinance, Mrs. Butcher stunned the entire world by voting in favor of – yes, you guessed it – BUILDING A CELL TOWER in the city’s historic downtown area in one of her very first votes as alderman.
So, my advice to the Pc3 when it comes to campaign ethics? To co-opt a very religious proverb, let the Pc3 board member that does not have a sin cast the first stone.