Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
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Wrong call

Before you call me naïve for thinking that City Council would do the right thing and investigate Mayor Michael Hancock, let me explain. Over the past weeks I was in touch with Councilman Kevin Flynn about the mayor’s salacious texts to a police detective, and Flynn intimated that the Council would be hiring an outside expert to advise them how to proceed. In the end, the council held a series of closed-door meetings with their attorney and then informed the public they would not be investigating.

For a council that says it values transparency, the cognitive dissonance is mind-boggling. Among the issues to unpack:

•Why closed doors? Council has invoked attorney-client privilege, yet a client can waive that privilege. Don’t the people of Denver have the right to know what their representatives are discussing?

• Why is the city’s executive not being held to the same standard we all are at our places of business?

• Why is the council not calling for a formal reprimand of the mayor and forcing him to take sexual harassment training?

The ultimate in cognitive dissonance came on March 27, when the council passed a proclamation recognizing and honoring female first responders before excusing itself into an attorney-client privileged closed-door meeting where they conferred on how they weren’t going to support a female first responder, Det. Leslie Branch-Wise.

Actions speak louder than words — that’s a lesson every Jewish day school student learns through the story of Abraham, who tells the visiting angels he will get them a bit of bread, but then returns with an entire feast.

In the case of the council, the lack of action is deafening.

Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected]

Copyright © 2018 by the Intermountain Jewish News



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One thought on “Wrong call

  1. Susan Barnes-Gelt

    Shana, you are your father’s daughter; and your wonderful grandmother Miriam’s.Glad you’re following in their footsteps. You are right – it’s not complicated! Susan Barnes-Gelt

    Reply

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