Letters to the editor

Councilman should know difference between right, wrong

The article on the Cam Walker ethics complaint has me confused. How can someone cast a “nonwilling” vote in favor of their own personal gain?

To vote in favor of something required a clear and conscious choice. In voting on any issue Cam Walker has three choices: 1. Vote yes. 2. Vote no. 3. Abstain. What is there not to understand?

“Nonwilling” suggests some form of duress. Was Mr. Walker coerced to run for City Council? Did someone stand behind Councilman Walker and twist his arm or threaten to give him a wedgie to make him vote the way he did?

Cam Walker is entering his second term as a councilman, not the second grade. If someone lacks the emotional maturity to recognize the difference between right and wrong, they have no business being in a position where they will be empowered to make decisions for others.

Cam Walker is probably exactly the type of client that City Attorney Dave Olsen deserves, and vice versa. The residents of Boulder City, however, deserve better on both counts.

When the day comes that the letter of the law can be used to frustrate and defeat the spirit of the law, the rule of law has ended. Could anything be less ethical than that?

Dick Farmer

Council takes advantage of attorney’s appointment

The City Council is making good use of being able to appoint its city attorney. Take Councilman Cam Walker’s ethics hearing, for example.

Walker was director of business and development for McCarthy Building Cos. when he voted on contractual amendments that would favor his own gain and that he had a financial interest in. He was advised by the Council-appointed city attorney to go ahead and vote on it, even though the attorney neglected to tell him to contact the Ethics Commission before he voted.

It’s a different approach than when he advised the mayor, who was under investigation for an ethics violation, not to disclosed his violation to the Ethics Commission that was investigating the complaint.

The whitewash is in the making as Walker’s counsel and the commission agree on a stipulation that acknowledges Walker is facing a penalty. It would still be a violation but no penalty would be enforced and a public hearing would not be needed if it is determined that Walker nonwillingly voted in favor of his own personal gain and the broke state ethics law.

The interesting fact is that (former Police Chief) Thomas Finn, who filed the complaint, was fired five days later.

The city wields a massive whitewash brush. Here’s something to remember: An appointed city attorney represents the five people who appoint him. An elected city attorney represents the 15,000 residents who elect him.

Al Wengert