City’s reaction appreciated

Last year this paper published my letter expressing skepticism that the mayor’s administration was fully supportive of the young leaders demographic following the failure to represent that demographic in the appointments to the Legacy Task Force.

One year later, I feel compelled to follow up. In the days, weeks and months that followed, Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy stepped in and made a strong effort to engage this omitted demographic. On a personal level, I can say that I came to trust and respect her for these and her many other efforts. We often did not agree, but we were always candid and direct. Some say that this might be a dangerous approach to politics; I for one appreciated it.

This letter is a thank you to Malloy, from a critic, for her service to the community. It is a congratulations to Mayor Tom Henry for his bold appointment of her, as well as an encouragement to the mayor and other community leaders to continue this type of honest and direct engagement of constituents – especially the young leaders. With this type of engagement, our community will begin to see more young leaders working along side public officials in important community affairs – and perhaps stepping up to hold an office themselves.

MICHAEL A. BARRANDA Fort Wayne

Name-calling demeans candidates

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” At this time in our country this saying is false. I’m referring to the behavior of political candidates who call their opponents demeaning and inaccurate names. Didn’t we teach our children not to call others by bad or cruel names? Must we now teach grown men and women not to name-call, too?

Name-calling is a dignity thief. The name-calling candidate steals from his or her credibility. The candidate steals time from his or her opportunity to communicate in knowledgeable terms. The candidate steals from our country’s dignity to present to the world responsible, mature, adults who indeed might have creative and sound ideas to make our country and world a more dignified place to live. Name-calling candidates steal from your and my opportunity to be educated to their views that could have an important effect on the quality of our lives.

Are politicians’ name-calling and negative campaigning stealing from people’s desire to listen, vote and keep our democracy respectable?

Why would any responsible candidate want to degrade themselves by denigrating others? Do they not have anything better to offer to us? Kudos to the candidates who dare to state their views in a respectable manner.

TINA BROWN-ECKART Fort Wayne

Tea party negates own mission

Watching the circus that is the Republican primary, you see that the phrase of the month uttered by everybody from John Boehner down to the lowest intern at the Republican propaganda machine that is Fox News is that President Obama is dividing the country. Than you see a letter from one of those phonies who are the tea party.

Dina Jenkins (“Restore America’s traditional values,” Feb. 1) blames all America’s problems on liberals and progressives. The tea party has done more to divide this country since the Civil War. Then she goes on to say the tea party are peaceful good Americans – but she would do whatever it takes to get what she thinks America should be; I guess that includes violence.

These so-called peaceful people had no problem calling the president everything from Hitler to a monkey. Jenkins wants to go back to the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s when women and minorities didn’t have the same rights as the good God-fearing white man.

Much like the Bible, people interpret the Constitution to fit their beliefs. If the tea party really believed what they claimed, they would have been protesting the travesty that was Bush/Cheney.

TONY RUMPEL Fort Wayne

Openness stifled at hearing

It seems like more and more the transparency so touted by our government is only meant for a certain few. For those members of Congress who voted against filming the congressional committee on science, space and technology, I ask you: Isn’t a lack of credentials by the filmmaker an excuse that the Soviet Union used to employ to hide the workings of their government from their people? What a poor excuse.

Please remember you are not the government. The people who put you there are the government. Allowing all forms of media, when not interrupting the proceedings, is a democratic principle all our elected officials need to embrace.

MICHELLE JACKSON Fort Wayne