Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
February 8, 2008
Last night’s horrible shooting at the Kirkwood City Council meeting has shaken all of us in City Hall. I know Kirkwood’s city administrator and I have met the Mayor Swoboda several times. It is scary to think of something like this happening so close to home. Flags at City facilities are at half-mast today in honor of the fallen Kirkwood officials.
We all have dealt with disgruntled citizens in our roles as City employees but we do not expect such violence. City governments are in the enforcement business and by nature, people can become upset. However, I don’t need to say that it is unjustifiable for someone to open fire on elected officials who receive little or no pay to make tough decisions in the public interest.
Every community has a few citizens who have longstanding arguments with the city government. They make repeated phone calls, argue with staff, attend public meetings, and speak frequently at City Council meetings. Most often, the City has told them to do something they don’t want to do, and they continually call or appear to express their dissatisfaction. Staff generally listens to them and politely tries to tell them why the City is doing what it is doing, but it rarely resolves the dispute. City employees may resist dealing with these disgruntled citizens, but I don’t believe employees are deliberately trying to ruin their lives. And I know we never expect someone to come to a City Council meeting and open fire on the mayor and aldermen.
When I heard about last night’s shooting, I immediately thought of people I have encountered over the years as a city official whom I suspected might snap. I want to be fair to everyone who deals with the City, but sometimes the answer is “no” and sometimes people disagree. I am sympathetic to citizen concerns, but we should not make our decisions out of fear of how someone will react.
I would like to think there is something we can do to prevent a similar incident from happening in O’Fallon. Sadly, it is a cruel reality that no one is safe from random violence. We would like to protect ourselves from all possible risks, but incidents like this remind us that anything can happen anywhere.
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