The Mount Vernon Register-News has an article today with some expressed frustration from Mike Walker. I don’t blame him. The council is being hit from all sides by accusations of impropriety and “conspiracy theories” both online and by letters to the editor of the R-N. I don’t blame Mike for being frustrated. I’m frustrated just reading a lot of the half-baked stuff myself.

Most of the “theories” are just based on speculation and a tiny bit of truth. Maybe there is NO truth and only rumors. These are the worst kind of garbage and should be disposed of as such. That should not be difficult to do by just presenting facts. Rumors only have the life that you give them, and needles of truth tend to pop inflated rumors pretty easily.

With all of that said, I have to admit there are a lot of fact-strings tying together a lot of different pieces that give the appearance of impropriety. Perhaps it is just coincidence and a consequence of a small town, but you can only ignore the 800lb gorilla so long.

Mrs. Holt had a nice, inspiring quote as well. I will NOT accuse her of not voting her conscience. She seems to be a good person. I will agree 100% that she voted on an issue knowing of the clear conflict of interest given her employment by the school district. I am not saying she voted how she did due to her employment, but she SHOULD have abstained in my opinion.

“A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust, such as a lawyer, a politician, or an executive or director of a corporation, has competing professional and/or personal interests. Such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties fairly. Even if there is no evidence of improper actions, a conflict of interest can create an appearance of impropriety that can undermine confidence in the ability of that person to act properly.” – Wikipedia

Maybe I’m grouped with the “conspiracy theorists”. Maybe I shouldn’t point out an obvious conflict of interest.