Ole Pappy
It seems as though something always “sticks its ugly head up” and ruins the hard work of others.
This time a letter to the editor in an area newspaper came out last Friday and made an attempt to tear down the Minneota School Administration — and right on the eve of the school referendum.
The letter, signed by a lady who said she is from Minneota — but is not, brought the dander up in the community. The letter, which didn’t say it was trying to stop the positive vote in the $5.25 million school renovation referendum, certainly seemed to be trying to cause some damage.
We did not print this letter. In fact, it was NOT sent to us. If it had been, I would have tried to stick by the newspaper policy of printing viewpoints — whether or not they matched my viewpoint or not.
But, I would have used a couple of criteria. First, it has to be printed in time for the other side to react and make their point in a letter.
In this case, it would NOT have been in time to allow that. Even in the case of the newspaper that printed it, they didn’t really allow time for a retort of any nature.
Second, I would have scanned the letter to make sure it didn’t include slander or items that could cause the writer, or the newspaper, to be sued by the people or group that was defamed.
In this case, the use of the word “Nepotism” would have raised a red flag in my book.
Another factor that would have waived a red flag was knowing the source of the letter. Knowing the letter writer, a former Minneota City Administrator who now lives somewhere else, was related to an individual no longer employed by the school district, would have given me cause to wonder about printing it.
It smacked of a “personal vendetta”. This paper’s policy is to allow both sides to be heard, if the writer sticks to the issue at hand. Telling folks why not to vote for the bond issue would have been appropriate.
But words and innuendos that could be construed as “slander” are not allowed.
It appeared like the letter writer submitted this letter at the last possible minute in an attempt to not allow an answer. What most Minneotans thought was out of line was the writer signing the letter by indicating she was from Minneota.
That part just is not true. Did the letter affect the election? Impossible to know. The issue passed, but it’s hard to know how many changed their mind after reading the letter.
Letter writers need to be responsible — but so does the newspaper. In this case, the Minneota School Board and administration presented all the issues concerning the referendum in a series of articles in The Minneota Mascot.
Any time during the printing of the articles would have been an excellent time for such a letter. But that didn’t happen
. They say politics is a nasty affair. So, apparently, is community politics.
LAUGH A LITTLE: No emergency exits, Thanks! The flight attendant on our trip was handing out plastic pilot wings to some kids.
As a man stepped forward, she jokingly offered him one, but he passed. Pointing to the Airborne wings on his Army uniform, he explained, “The last time someone gave me wings, I had to jump out of the airplane.”
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: As my Ole Pappy used to say, “Everyone wants to be successful. But instead of becoming a success — try to become a man of value.”
Ole Pappy didn’t mind folks who became successful — that is, if they did it in an honest way. He liked the term, “Integrity.” That term means you’re honest and use top value judgement in all you do. “A man of integrity is the kind of man you want to be,” Ole Pappy told me more than once.
It’s not easy to live a life of integrity. It means not scrimping on even the small things, or pushing the limit of right and wrong. Good word, integrity. I’m glad Ole Pappy made such a big deal about it. Thanks Ole Pappy!