Editor’s note: This is a letter the author sent to members of the Baker City Council.

It is obvious you are unable to accept the offer of service from a longtime business owner, a person who has been on city council and established his depth of knowledge and concern for the community. Instead you embrace someone who decides to run home and ask his wife if he should accept the seat you voted him to.

Do you see a problem here? His reaction should exclude him from any position requiring decisiveness. This city needs a council that understands its obligation to the community and strives to honor such obligation. We had high hopes for this council but it seems we were wrong. Why is that?

I think I know. You, the council, elected a mayor who managed to get her 15 minutes of fame and decided she is now ready for the Governor’s Mansion. Sorry, not even close. The council’s priority should be fiscal stability and maintenance of our infrastructure rather than chasing grants for unneeded changes. Perhaps we, the citizenry, should be the ones to decide the issue of who is best suited for the mayor’s office.

I have always felt that anyone too eager for office should automatically be excluded as unreliable. The job description is “public servant.” For much too long we have seen an ugly transformation to “public master.” Current events show the peril we face if we are quiet in the face of obvious misuse of position.

Rick Rienks

Baker City