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Why did he stir this pot?
Posted By katie allison granju
LVG questions Mayor Ragsdale’s motives in engaging Commissioner Victoria DeFreese over her communications with constituents:
It is hard to see what public good will come from Mayor Ragsdale’s request for Commissioner Victoria DeFreese’s records of e-mails, faxes and phone calls from constituents concerned about spending in the Mayor’s office. Now the debate begins on whether these communications are public record or private discourse, but why the Mayor would want to stir this hornet’s nest in the first place is baffling. With County Commission, the Law Director and the Attorney General unable or unwilling to bring action that might force the Mayor from office before his term expires, why isn’t he willing to coast? Sure, more criticism will be leveled at Ragsdale before he leaves office, but one is hard-pressed to believe that by now he is not long accustomed to it.
One answer might be the looming budget battle. Any issue that redirects the public gaze from the Mayor must certainly be welcome in Suite 615, and this request could start a battle which could only be resolved in court.
It may come to nothing. The Mayor’s office now says it won’t “press the issue.” if so, what we’ve wtnessed is simply another tactical blunder by Team Ragsdale that may backfire with a lot of negative press and irate citizens.
Apr 2nd, 2008
it may have been an attempt to get others critical of the mayor to temper future criticism — defreese asserts “countless complaints,” the mayor’s team says “show us what ‘countless’ is.” Other critics with a taste for hyperbole might take it down a notch if they know the mayor’s still willing to bring the fight to them.
then again, the mayor may just have been in one of his moods.