I believe that the incident in which manager Bill Seward advised a

company to fire an individual (Gershon Cohen) or risk not receiving

a borough contract to be unethical to the degree that his release from

his position was warranted. When I initially read of this I thought that

there must be a law that was broken. To take away a family’s income

over differences of opinion seemed criminal. Should we require The

Stump Company to fire Scott Rossman because of votes he took while

an assembly member? Absurd. What confidence could anyone have in

borough dealings if this kind of behavior was condoned?

How did Seward’s short tenure lead him to blacklist Cohen?

Somebody must have given him advice. Could it be that the advice came

from ex-assembly member Diana Lapham who called assembly member

Tom Morphet “despicable” and has started a “crowd-sourcing” effort

Seward’s legal defense and expenses? Or perhaps it was our Mayor, who

referred to assembly members as “axe throwers,” one short word from

calling them “axe murderers.” In either case, disturbing behaviors

from Mayor Jan Hill and ex-assemblywoman Lapham, demonstrating

poor civic skills of name calling and intimidation of those who voice

a contrary view.

This “axe throwers” comment was new to me, so while I could

sense its use here wasn’t complimentary, I wondered if the term was a

reflection of those who participate in our Southeast Alaska State Fair

logging contest. I’ll leave that for the reader to decide.

John Norton

Author