Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke has more than once cautioned his critics that they won’t get any favors from him as long as they aren’t nice. Commissioner David Madore has several times used the chicken metaphor in referring to critics, indicating they were “pecking away” at the underdog-chicken (Don Benton).
A March 19 story reported “County legal ads to run primarily in Reflector.” The vote to remove The Columbian as the paper of record for county legal notices certainly seemed like a grudge vote, as Mielke smiled through the entire heated conversation, and Madore insisted on undermining the well thought-out analysis of his own staff as to why the small-circulation Reflector would not be an appropriate venue for the legal notices.
So the question is … which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Is it the intention of the commissioners to continue with smiling grudge votes until their critics become quiescent? Will Mielke and Madore promise to become reasonable so that the critics can become more “civil”?
Jan Verrinder
Vancouver
