Your Opinion: Dog-pony shows don't work here

Dear Editor:

I'm writing this letter in response to the article in the Aug. 5 paper regarding Glen Costales' push to hire a new fire chief. The portion of the article that caused me to write this letter was this:

"Crowell has said he is considering both Schofield and Turner..."

The City of Jefferson appointed a committee, held public forums and received a unanimous recommendation to hire one particular candidate. Why is Crowell considering two candidates?

I am continually frustrated with our community's inability to make any progress; however, this is a perfect example of why we can't make progress.

Here's my advice to public service people: dog-and-pony shows don't work here. Don't put together a group of people from this community, ask for a recommendation, then slap them in the face by shooting it down. If you knew what you wanted to begin with, then don't waste the people's time by asking them to work through the issues or you better give a really good reason why you didn't take their advice.

You will not gain the support of this community by making them "feel involved." Let them be involved. I understand you can't fulfill everyone's wishes you are serving; however, if you don't plan to show you value their advice then don't ask.