Some years back, when I was pondering the pros and cons of running for office, I knew I had an advantage that not everyone in this community enjoyed: I was not beholden to anyone but God, my family, and the State Employees Credit Union.
You see, I am retired as a public school teacher of 35 years, so no one would win the argument that I was a racist (even though they tried). I have an income for life. I have been faithfully married to the same wonderful man for almost 40 years, and both of my children are educated and established and, as far as I know, have never been in trouble with the law.
I do not owe any debt to a private individual. I pay my taxes, attend church as regularly as possible, and I have lived happily with my neighbors for over 38 years in a part of Henderson that we have worked to protect. If I need expert advice, I usually have a cousin, whether a geologist, engineer, plumber, minister, doctor, druggist, or chemist who will level with me. But, most importantly, I was reared in a family that taught me not to be afraid to speak out against injustices. I may not be subtle, but I am sincere.
Since I have lived here most of my life and have always kept up with politics, I certainly understand why people in our community need to vent against the establishment. I certainly understand why they choose not to put their name to their opinions. I certainly think that if people need to protect their employment or peace of mind, but still want to discuss our community or government, they should be protected. I do not think that malice is the reason most people blog on Home In Henderson. I think they blog to vent, to be entertained, to educate, to be educated, and to work for change. If hate were the prime motivational factor behind HiHand its comment posts, it would have failed long ago.
With that said, let’s look at the quandary of Hester vs. Home In Henderson. First, in my opinion, it is disingenuous that Tommy Hester would wait until this election cycle to become concerned enough about his allegedly being libeled to take action. If his public reputation was harmed enough for him to bring a suit, then I would have understood if he had taken action last August when the alleged malicious lies were told about him. For him to wait this long leads me to believe that his motivation is more about silencing bloggers than repairing his harmed reputation. And, as a public official, he should have a thicker skin or the guts to refute the comments immediately.
As far as his harmed reputation goes, when confronted with the fact that a property he owned harbored the horrendous living conditions that were exposed, a real public servant would have apologized to the public for his failure to oversee and maintain decent standards of living. He would have come forward and asserted that he was as appalled as the rest of us at what was found. He would have assured us that he was working to help the tenants find other appropriate housing, and he would have assured us that he found the situation deplorable. He would have said that his personal inspections of his properties in the future would prevent this from ever happening again. He would have assured us that he will look at the records of anyone who wants to rent a house as a group home.
A true servant of the people would have asked us to trust him and assured us that he was not the kind of person who thought that others living without water and sanitation was a way to live in the 21st century. He would have volunteered to be the guardian of these unfortunates and seen to it that appropriate care was given to the tenants that had been forced to live in filth. Then he could have told us that he was wrong about the Certificate of Occupancy that he fought against as a client of Mike Satterwhite and would fight to see that housing inspections were made so that what had happened at his property would never happen anywhere else in this community.
He could have done all this, and my ethics say he should have done all this. If he had, he would have been voted into any office he wanted to hold. But “could have”, “should have”, and “would have” are but some of the saddest words of man.
Personally, I am relieved that Judge Howard Manning is going to read the Home in Hendersonarticle of August 14, 2010 under which are the comments in question. I hope he calls a lot of people on the carpet just like the bloggers tried to do. I hope he insists that owners be notified when water service is cut off at their properties. I hope he blasts the City of Henderson for failure to follow its laws in Municipal Code Chapter 21 21A, 21B, and 21C. I hope he blasts the licensing agency that is suppose to oversee group homes. I hope he blasts social services if they had clients living in these deplorable conditions.
You see, Henderson has a Rental Dwelling Permit on its books. This law calls for inspections and permits. It might take an outside judge to remind us of it. No one will admit this, and it seems like no one believes me when I say so, but it is in our city code. When I asked the North Carolina Institute of Government if this were law in Henderson, they directed me to the Clerk’s Office to see the code book. It is indeed in our code book, so it must be law, yet Henderson does not follow it. The city is as culpable as the operator Mary Ester Thompson (who was in charge of the so-called nursing home at 212 Charles Street) and certainly more culpable than Hester. He should be suing the city.
I believe the bloggers are the heroes in this story and will be held as such. They spoke to an injustice in an effort to correct it. They stood up for people who could not stand up for themselves. In my opinion, they were doing a civic duty and an ethical duty to correct a wrong by our government. Government should have protected those tenants. Of course, leaving personalities out of it should have, could have, would have been better. But I trust Judge Manning. If he fails our community in our fight for change and decent housing standards and our Constitutional right to debate and speech, all of which is tied to this action, then we will all have been dealt an injustice.
The beauty of this is that good that can come out of it, believe it or not. The beauty of this is the attention that might be focused on the power of the wealthy to profit from the misfortune of others when laws are not enforced. The beauty of this is that we are free to speak our minds and voice our opinions about all of it. Home In Henderson makes this more possible than ever. We might not be subtle, but who cares, so long as you are sincere.