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