So it was exactly as we surmised: Mayor Anthony Foxx sent his don’t-sexually-harass-the-help email at the behest of City Manager Curt Walton and City Attorney Mac McCarley — almost certainly to head-off a formal complaint and a lawsuit.
Now McCarley and Foxx have clammed up on the matter — surprise! — claiming the lack of a formal complaint put everything behind us.
It does not.
Some city employee came forward with allegations credible enough to prod the mayor and the city attorney to action — very public and embarrassing action. Foxx’s email has put all eight male members of city council under a cloud, no way to deny that. The mayor and McCarley and Walton just put them all in a suspect line-up. Why?
To protect city government. In other words, here we are again. City staff acting to protect city staff and the corporate entity that employs them. Again in secrecy, again by subverting and twisting disclosure policies and standards of open and effective government. If some staffer had a credible enough complaint to prompt the mayor’s broadside, a formal complaint against a single member of city council should have been filed. Not preempted by the city attorney and city manager.
Yes, in the short term it might have been painful, but that is the cost of doing the people’s business the right way.
Update: It occurs to me that if this action does not create a majority on council who would vote to fire Walton and McCarley, nothing will. Seven totally innocent guys — is that a sexist assumption? — have just been stuck in a perp walk by city staff. Who could possibly take that? Answer: our city council potted plants.
