Girard tax foul-up offers lesson for public officials

The city of Girard's law director delivered a speech Monday at city council's meeting that should be required reading for all public officials because it goes to the heart of what's wrong with governments at all levels, namely, the refusal by individuals to accept blame when something goes wrong.
Atty. Mark Standohar's remarks were prompted by the recent flap over the missed deadline for placing a 0.25 percent income tax issue on the May primary ballot, but what he had to say about the subsequent finger-pointing is something we have long railed against. Standohar was speaking for all citizens when he told lawmakers, "Welcome to the arena of public service gentlemen; what you are learning is it is a lot easier to always be the one pointing the fingers than to have the finger pointed at you. I already know and anticipate that some of you may either refuse to accept or simply be unable to grasp the concept that council and its clerk bear full and complete responsibility for this unfortunate mistake. Not even the series of 'ifs and buts' offered up by some councilmen and their clerk will change the indisputable fact that ... statutes, ordinances, long-standing and well-established municipal guidelines and procedures place the obligations at issue squarely on your shoulders."
We can't remember the last time a law director had the gumption to tell members of council off the way Standohar did last week. Such public criticism of incompetence on the part of elected officials and public employees is rare. We hope the law director's willingness to speak his mind will encourage others to do likewise.
Too often, those in government react to missteps by circling the wagons, thus hiding from public view what has gone wrong.
Taking responsibility
Shortly after the November general election, the director of the Mercer County Board of Elections, Jim Bennington, resigned and took full responsibility for major foul-ups at the polls that resulted in the national press coverage. We applauded Bennington for coming forward immediately and shouldering all the blame for the things that went wrong. We said then that his actions should become the standard for the public sector.
If only the former Girard clerk of council, Pam Mayoras, had paid attention. While Mayoras last week shouldered the blame for the quarter-percent income tax issue not being on the May ballot, she initially pointed the finger at the city auditor and law director. In a letter of resignation, Mayoras said that in her seven years as clerk she never filed anything with the board of elections. She contended that either the city auditor or law director took care of such filings.
But in a mea culpa following Monday's council meeting, Mayoras said her resignation letter was written when she was "very upset" and that she did not want to imply that it was the auditor's or law director's responsibility to file the paperwork for ballot issues. She did acknowledge, however, that she was not aware of all the duties and responsibilities of the clerk.
Therein lies the problem. The clerk is hired by city council and answers to the legislative body. Lawmakers have the duty to ensure that the people they hire not only know what the jobs entail, but that accountability is demanded.