Officials’ behavior embarrasses region

The decorum at both the city and county level leaves a lot to be desired and seemed like something more on the order of a playground dust-up than something involving elected officials. As letter-writer and longtime Pine Bluff resident Joe Dempsey put it, such headlines and stories do a lot to diffuse any burning desire to relocate to these parts.

Let us say at the outset that we aren’t taking sides in these matters as we weren’t on playground duty at the time of said dust-ups. But we will say that Pine Bluff and Jefferson County should by all accounts put on a better face than what apparently transpired.

In this corner …, sorry. Over at city hall there was new Council Member Lanette Frazier complaining about fellow Council Member Glen Brown Sr. She said Brown got in her face and space and even bumped her as he complained about her support of Go Forward Pine Bluff. She has been sitting next to Brown at council meetings and, at the very least, would now like to be moved elsewhere. That is, unfortunately, straight out of elementary school.

“I responded to Council Member Brown Sr. that I did not want to hear it and to leave me alone,” she wrote in a letter to the mayor in the way of documenting her irritation.

Brown, for his part, said something to the effect of “did not.” “We were talking,” he told The Commercial. “That was it. That’s my side of the story.”

Frazier said if it happens again, she will seek legal action.

This becomes a “he said, she said” interaction, but given that Frazier is a grown woman and not 10, one has to believe that something Brown did was enough to upset her, and that given that premise, Brown should steer clear of Frazier except in clearly public venues. A public apology would also be nice as a way to mend fences.

Then over at the Jefferson County Courthouse, where justices of the peace and the county judge are daily finding ingenious ways not to get along, there was Justice of the Peace Alfred Carroll Sr., who got so upset with something or another that he appeared to push or shove a radio personality who said later his chest hurt. Carroll hasn’t wanted to talk about what happened, but he may not have heard the last of the event if the personality wants to pursue the matter. Again, a public apology would be in order.

People do lose their cool. We have all been there. But the burden to act responsibly is — or should be — higher for elected officials. They are the ones who have claimed the mantle of leadership and who have run for office on the promise that they will represent the public’s best interest. The public’s best interests, however, are not served when people are shoved or have their personal space violated. That only paints the city and county in a way that is embarrassing to us all. Surely, the bar for what is acceptable can be nudged a bit higher.