The old parable
We all own our privacy and deserve to have it respected.
However, when someone chooses to become a leader, and in a mayor’s case, a very public one at that, they should realize their choice puts them in a fish bowl and rightly so.
Where decisions affect the health, well being, daily living conditions and finances, in this case, of the public, that leader should expect to forfeit some of his or her privacy where their life patterns may impact their leadership role. The government is a huge business and the public has an absolute right to be comfortable with the knowledge that their leaders have a background that can project into a competent and healthy public service.
I feel bad for the financial difficulty that Mayor Jakubeit and his family may have experienced even though he doesn’t give a whit about me and a majority of his constituents when it comes to much of his service to the public, i.e. the Skaha Park issue. As well, I also feel bad that he cannot afford a new car and vacation. But, I do hope he had a good time visiting our sister city in Japan.
It appears some people may think the exposure was not proper. Thankfully we live in a non-oppressive country where open journalism serves to keep us, the public, in the loop of how we are being governed and how our taxes are being used. Indeed, it is a primary source of information to help us decide who and how we are to be led.
Finally, there is an old parable that includes the suggestion, if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. I take the moral of that to be, if the mayor is unhappy with the press reporting, suck it up and get on with the public business.
Sheldon Hansen
Penticton
