Respect: Neither a synonym for silence, nor an excuse to muzzle dissent

If "respect" is New Albany's Zeitgeist, should we all raise our hands before speaking?

In September, 2004, Mayor James Garner of New Albany took offense to an editorial in the Louisville Courier-Journal that broached the topic of escalating chaos in New Albany’s building department.

Mayor Garner was so incensed that he took pen in hand and responded to the Courier’s editorialist, and less than a year into Mayor Garner’s term, we were provided with an invaluable glimpse into his psyche.

The Mayor's eye-opening letter would have brought to mind an old Groucho Marx line, as dispensed to the author of a comic novel: "From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it."

Except that I did read it, and wanted not to laugh but to cry ... with frustration.

Not once, not twice, but six times in two opening paragraphs, Mayor Garner decried the newspaper’s lack of "respect" for his person. He proceeded to disregard the accepted meaning in the English language of words like demotion, reduction and termination, and then finally, New Albany’s democratically elected mayor made an absolutely breathtaking assertion:

“The chief executive of a government entity is not the same as in private business, but you do not write editorials about private businesses when they reduce an individual to part-time status, and you should not for the government sector either.”

Logic having been skewered beyond recognition, Garner closed his letter by stretching credulity to the breaking point:

“I request that you give me a personal apology and a public apology for your rude and disrespectful comments. Your organization should be a friend to the community and not burn bridges with government officials with your personal comments.”

Needless to say, an apology was not forthcoming from the Courier-Journal, primarily because the newspaper’s alleged “disrespect” existed solely in the mind of Mayor James Garner.

Quite simply, public officials at all levels must accept enhanced scrutiny by journalists and ordinary citizens as a necessary part of their job descriptions, furthermore understanding that deference and esteem – the essential components of respect – are qualities earned as part of the process, not aspects of entitlement owed the office holder out of fawning gratitude that he or she has agreed to serve.

Which brings us to a column authored by the Tribune’s City Editor, Amany Ali. It appears in today’s Tribune under the banner, “Elected officials deserve respect.”*

In many respects, this is one of Amany best analytical efforts. She has chosen an important and timely local topic, not lobbed potshots at tabloid headlines.

Her arguments are cogent, and she makes them with passion. Gone are the titters and self-aggrandizing giggles that accompany her usual forays into the frivolous, with beneficial results for the quality of her prose. She must have worked hard on this piece, and although I can’t completely agree with her, her effort deserves ... well, it deserves respect.

Why? Because Amany has earned it, and not because it is “deserved” owing to the title of City Editor, her family lineage, or any other extraneous factor beyond pure merit.

In her column, Amany echoes Mayor Garner’s comments during last week’s City Council meeting.

Too many people are “using the forum of City Council meetings to throw as many daggers at Garner as possible … I’m all for freedom of speech. But there is a difference between expressing your concern, and lambasting the leader of our city and giving an entirely new meaning to being disrespectful.”

She eventually concludes, “I believe it is the job of the public to keep up with city, state and national officials to make sure their leaders are doing their job. However, I think there is a civilized and dignified way of accomplishing that mission. And publicly berating a public official … is not the way to get the job done.”

And: “The point is that public officials deserve a certain level of respect.”

If by this she means respect in the sense of “willingness to show consideration,” then the point is well taken, as it addresses the civility of the dialogue or forum.

It is true that any public discussion, whether undertaken in the chambers of the City Council or on the street corner by Little Chef, is prone to frayed tempers or outbursts, depending on the emotion, frustration or even desperation of the participants.

Hence Council President Jeff Gahan’s well-intentioned efforts, within the context of the occasion last Thursday, to limit the time of speakers.

However, I attended the same City Council as Amany Ali and listened to the same citizens’ comments she did, and what I heard were mostly solid points, one after another, and on a wide range of important topics, some having to do with Mayor Garner and others not.

Opinions were expressed on ordinance enforcement, garbage delivery, rates of taxation, the tolerance of gaming machines by some local clubs (prompting the only real theatrics of the evening), the dismissal of a city employee, the city’s web site, contractor licensing and others too numerous to mention.

Which opinions were invalid?

Given that Mayor Garner has indicated publicly that newspapers should be little better than cheerleading lapdogs that do not question his personnel decisions, and with no other opportunity beyond City Council meetings for the public to meet the Council and the Mayor for something approximating a discussion of those issues that concern to individual citizens, exactly when are there other chances to exercise participatory democracy between election campaigns?

Would we be discussing any of this if those members of the public choosing to speak at City Council meetings each agreed with the Mayor?

In the end, isn’t it true that most politicians, a group that includes our current mayor, define “disrespect” as those times when people disagree with them, and isn’t this why journalist and citizen alike must continue asking questions?

The advent of NA Confidential can be traced to that day last September when I read Mayor Garner’s letter to the Courier-Journal and cringed in embarrassment. How could someone so obsessed with the concept of respect fail so miserably to show respect for democratic ideals such as a free press and governmental disclosure?

In fact, speaking of respect, isn’t running roughshod over such democratic principles the ultimate exercise in disrespect for me as a citizen?

Or is it merely cultural illiteracy, the persistent curse of New Albany's leadership class?

Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that we are fully justified in questioning our leaders, challenging our leaders, reminding our leaders that their job is to lead and to do so in such a fashion that does not cause us to feel ashamed, and expecting competence and accountability from our leaders.

We are fully justified in being involved.

It is this principle, and not the peculiarities or weaknesses of a particular person, that serves as the raison d’etre for the existence of NA Confidential, which persists in believing that it is never too late for anyone – be it mayor, journalist, citizen speaker or blogger – to learn, to improve and to grow.

* Amany Ali’s column in the New Albany Tribune (January 23, 2005) will not be archived on-line.

Original sources are as follows:

The Louisville Courier-Journal editorial on Mayor Garner (Sept. 16, 2004)

Mayor Garner replies to the C-J: Gimme some R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Garner's C-J letter an embarrassment to all New Albanians