At last week's Governance Committee and then again at the full meeting of County Council, President Lori Vargo Heffner went off on what she thinks was conduct that crosses the line. Although she named no one, she said this person should apologize for his behavior at the July 3 meeting. Although she named no names, she was referring to Ken Kraft, a walking and talking violation of the Code of Civility. That's just how he rolls.
At that meeting, which followed news about an agency LPN who was arrested following what she claimed was an attempted exorcism of one of Gracedale's residents, McClure suggested the need for an executive session to discuss potential litigation and personnel matters. Since this kind of conduct exposes the county to liability and raises the question of why that nurse was able to stay in that resident's room for two hours with no supervision, an executive session was warranted. But Tom Giovanni and John Brown, without explanation, voted No.
On their way to the back room, Kraft launched this little zinger at Giovanni.
"Hey Tom, you can just sit there since you voted No."
Amazingly, this is what set Vargo-Heffner off.
Without question, Kraft is a miserable bastard. He's almost as bad as me. But he delivers his barbs with just a little more humor and a little less venom. It's hard to get mad at him.
Besides, he's right. I can think of several instances in which Council members in several municipalities refused to participate in executive sessions because they felt they were unwarranted.
So No, I do not consider Ken Kraft's conduct on July 3 as being even close to a violation of the Code of Civility. Nor do I consider John Brown's statements that the administration lies as a violation.
The danger of the Code of Civility, or as Council member Jeff Warren calls it, the Code of Civilty, is that it can be weaponized. Council member Ron Heckman made this observation as well.
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