Appropriate behavior applies to candidates, too
We must assume that parents no longer use elected officials or famous athletes or movie stars as good examples of what their children should become. We don’t know, though, how today’s parents teach their kids about the line between appropriate and inappropriate behavior. That line has always been crossed at times, but we always knew when we were crossing the imaginary line and behaving inappropriately. Today, we’re not so sure the line even exists. It seems as if almost everything is now acceptable in polite society, if there is still a polite society.
Our children are exposed to words and actions on television that would have been totally unacceptable not too long ago. They watch or read the news only to be exposed to behavior and language from national leaders that would have been shocking even a few years ago.
The old adage “to praise in public, criticize in private” feels like it came from a totally different time. In fact, too many of the old sayings — which, regardless of how trite they may sound, often held more than a grain of truth — have seemingly been thrown out. Today, many people seem to believe that everything they do and think should be shared with the world. Most of us can use new technology to post every little thing about our lives; in addition, famous people can use the microphones thrust in their faces to tell us even more. This brings to mind another seemingly forgotten saying, “Think before you speak.” We would like to believe that more thinking would lead to less speaking, or at least less inappropriate speaking.
Now, the line between appropriate and inappropriate behavior has been crossed in Rio Rancho. One of our city councilors (Rio Rancho City Councilor Cheryl Everett) sent a text using totally inappropriate language about a local judge (Rio Rancho Municipal Judge G. Robert Cook). Even giving the councilor the benefit of the doubt that the text was supposed to go to a friend, not the judge himself, it was wrong. It was definitely inappropriate behavior, even in today’s world.
We still expect our local elected officials to be on a pedestal; we expect them to be role models and to set an example we can follow. We expect them to behave like ladies and gentlemen, not like folks getting rowdy in a bar.
We don’t know any more about this situation than what we read in the newspaper, and we have no idea what caused the bad feelings between the judge and the city councilor, but that’s OK because, in this case, the back story doesn’t matter. The resulting behavior does, and it was inappropriate.
The city just spent months writing, editing, and discussing a Code of Ethics for its officials. The city councilor is not in violation because her action was unintentional and she apologized. It’s kind of like another old saying, “You can’t legislate morality.” It seems like you also can’t legislate ethical behavior. But we all know it when we see it, and as voters we must decide to support ethical candidates.
The problem then becomes determining which candidate is ethical and who will be the role model we want. We don’t have an easy answer, but we will look for upstanding, ethical people when we cast our votes, and we’ll keep you informed if we can.
To our leaders, we expect Rio Rancho to be a shining example of a city run by qualified, ethical people who will fight for us in an appropriate manner. Contact the Ryans at ryan@ abqjournal.com.