Bloggin’ on the Edge

Posted by Scott Spielman at 1:49 PM | Comments

I gained a new respect for Walter Mears on Monday night.

He sat stoically in the midst of a verbal thunderstorm as people alternately questioned his credentials, praised his work, threw out rumors and insulted each other.

He didn’t show any emotion until near the end of the three-hour ordeal, when his wife, Purba, got up to speak.

She talked about an unlikely pairing—Mears a Christian with aspirations of being a preacher, herself a Hindu. She talked about a man who put his personal dreams on hold in order to better care for his wife and young child. She talked about a man with a passion for his city, who wanted to serve as the city manager despite her objections.

He wiped away tears as even she broke down, citing a portion of The Lord’s Prayer against those who have for months sought to impugn his reputation and integrity.

It’s easy to lose track of the human side of things when we’re talking about people in public office. I know, they give up a certain degree of that when they take on the job—whether through an election to a local or state entity or appointment to a job funded through taxpayer dollars. It’s important to remember though, that at some level, people take on these difficult tasks because of an overriding desire to serve. Well, in a perfect world, anyway.

I didn’t know what to expect Monday night. My big issue—reflected in our editorial—was his apparent disregard for a resolution approved by the city council for him to show his educational credentials.

Once you get into a situation where a city manager ignores a direct order from his or her council, no good can come from it. He may have thought he had a good reason—thought it unnecessary because he was already in the job—but sometimes you have to give up the little fights to win the big ones.

I tried to find out what he was thinking, too. I stopped by unannounced at his office and left a message with both an office number and cell number. He called back, missed me, but then didn’t return subsequent calls.

I’ve become a bit of a cynic in that I believe when people don’t call back after repeated attempts, they don’t want to talk and they don’t want to talk because they have something to hide. Maybe I was wrong in that.

Given the way everything has transpired during the last few months, I don’t think the city council had much choice in the matter. I do think, though, that the city has lost out on an opportunity.

I take comfort in knowing more about his religious background. Things will work out and hopefully sooner rather than later. I hope, too, that he can find a place where he’ll be judged by who he is, not by what people say about him.

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