Esslinger’s council member statement antics criticized
Anyone who saw last Tuesday night’s Common Council meeting – or at least the portion for council member statements – saw councilor Paul Esslinger on his high horse trying to find a legal way of taking a city staff member to task for something. It was embarrassing to watch and I bet equally embarrassing and uncomfortable for most of those sitting on the council dais. In this morning’s Oshkosh Northwestern, Stew Rieckman used his column to say what I’m sure many of us felt as we watched Esslinger’s performance.
As I watched it I wondered, as I’m sure many did, who Esslinger is trying to nail: Is it city manager Richard Wollangk himself since Esslinger was so quick to exclude him from his private meeting with city attorney Warren Kraft and Mayor Bill Castle? Is it Kraft himself who, in addition to his office not having the best track record lately, had a public difference of opinion with Esslinger at a recent council meeting over the wording of the property tax levy referendum question? Could it be community development director Jackson Kinney over the Five Rivers project debacle or parks director Tom Stephany over something happening in his department? Or is it someone completely different?
Given Esslinger’s timing, I have my own thoughts about who he is going after. But whoever it is, if there is such a serious problem with a staff member, then I can understand Esslinger’s wanting to do something about it. I also understand that the council’s hands seem to be tied, according to counsel from Kraft. Unfortunately, I think Esslinger went about this the wrong way and chose the route he did to score points with the voting public in some way, while at the same time making the staff at city hall ill at ease.
If he didn’t think he could trust certain people at city hall to discuss this with him or to handle it appropriately, then perhaps the most mature and professional approach for Esslinger would have been to explain to the district attorney’s office or attorney general’s office what his concern is and ask them the best way for him to approach the problem. But as Rieckman said in his piece ,that would have robbed Esslinger of his audience and face time on camera. So, we ended up with an embarrassing display of bully politics. What a pity!
As I watched it I wondered, as I’m sure many did, who Esslinger is trying to nail: Is it city manager Richard Wollangk himself since Esslinger was so quick to exclude him from his private meeting with city attorney Warren Kraft and Mayor Bill Castle? Is it Kraft himself who, in addition to his office not having the best track record lately, had a public difference of opinion with Esslinger at a recent council meeting over the wording of the property tax levy referendum question? Could it be community development director Jackson Kinney over the Five Rivers project debacle or parks director Tom Stephany over something happening in his department? Or is it someone completely different?
Given Esslinger’s timing, I have my own thoughts about who he is going after. But whoever it is, if there is such a serious problem with a staff member, then I can understand Esslinger’s wanting to do something about it. I also understand that the council’s hands seem to be tied, according to counsel from Kraft. Unfortunately, I think Esslinger went about this the wrong way and chose the route he did to score points with the voting public in some way, while at the same time making the staff at city hall ill at ease.
If he didn’t think he could trust certain people at city hall to discuss this with him or to handle it appropriately, then perhaps the most mature and professional approach for Esslinger would have been to explain to the district attorney’s office or attorney general’s office what his concern is and ask them the best way for him to approach the problem. But as Rieckman said in his piece ,that would have robbed Esslinger of his audience and face time on camera. So, we ended up with an embarrassing display of bully politics. What a pity!
posted by Cheryl Hentz at 7:15 PM
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