Breaking Trust

Before the United States went into Iraq, a friend and I would often talk about the relative wisdom of what was looking more and more like an invasion. Almost everyone in the world believed that Saddam had WMD's. He had driven the inspectors to hyper frustration. Still, the cold hard data was not there as we considered going in. The decision was made on grounds that seemed somewhat flimsy. I kept saying to my friend, "Bush has to know something we don't. He would not just lead us into a war for no good reason." I don't think that Bush lied, as many do. But he was over eager to see limited data as conclusive, or, those other more nebulous "save the world from evil dictators" ideas ruled the day for him.

At any rate, we found no WMD's, and Bush lost public trust. His leadership has suffered greatly.

President Clinton was a bald faced liar. He lost public trust. His leadership suffered greatly.

Both men's ability to provide effective leadership on a host of issues was compromised.

Government (and government officials) cannot function well without trust. It is crucial. Even the appearance of dishonesty or corruption undermines the people's respect for their government, and the ability of that government to be effective.

But trust is not something you can just lay claim to. It is not automatic. We don't have an entitlement to the trust of others. Trust is one of those things in life that has to be earned. Once trust is betrayed it is extremely difficult to regain it. Ask any man who has said "I am sorry" after having had an affair.

In my view, and in the view of many, the Greensboro City Manger's Office has betrayed trust. It has shown disregard for truth. It has patronized us with his lame and contradictory explanations.It has created the appearance of corruption.

The deal that was apparently struck between the wings of the City Council, in light of the real reasons people are deservedly frustrated with the City manager's office, rings totally hollow to me. I suppose that neither Perkins nor Rakestraw had support for their respective motions, so Barber worked out a deal that the majority could live with. But "lame" as applied to what has been asked of the city manager does an injustice to that word "lame."

In failing to address the actual issues that have caused so much pain and disunity in our community, the City Council has exacerbated the trust issue. It's decision was arrogant in my view because it brushed aside the substantive issues and replaced them with meaningless directives for improvement. It was patronizing and condescending.

I'd like to be able to say, "Those folks spent hours together in a room; they're good people; we can trust them. They must know things we don't know. We have a duty to go along for the ride."

No, we don't. They have further damaged their credibility in a moment it most needed to be upheld.

As I said above trust has to be earned. But there is another aspect to trust. We as human beings are prone in our frailty to many sins. The more open and accountable our lives, the easier we make it for others to trust us. Trust is enhanced by a consistent record of openness, transparency, and acceptance of responsibility. Secrecy kills trust. Again, on this count, the City continues to have a chance to release documents; yet they only own up to even having the documents after somebody else releases them. I simply do not believe that all these documents are bound by some sort of legal mandate to be under wraps "due to an ongoing investigation."

There is no more important role the civil authority provides than protection of its citizens. But because our Police Department is still under the cloud of this scandal, it itself has a trust problem with the public. When we face such an upsurge in gang violence and so many other serious issues, we need a police department that is above reproach. We don't have one because their employers are not above reproach.. Nagging questions remain.

I don't care if the parties running the city or the GPB are Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, men, women, black, white, Asian, or Hispanic. I don't care at all. I am not prone to conspiracy theories. This has nothing to do with party politics or power politics. I personally have not the slightest thing personally against Mr. Johnson. I don't care what party he is or what his political leanings are. We're dealing here with fundamental issues of honesty, integrity, and honor.

Yes, Mr. Melvin, we do need to move on, but not by continuing to sweep these matters under the rug. I know you have done wonderful things for our city, but you just don't seem to understand that failing to address these trust issues undermines the very goals you have laid out.

I hope that the people who have allowed us to see so much of what has otherwise been denied us will continue to do so.

Since Mary Rakestraw's motion did not get to a vote, I consider it a card that can still be played, as of course is Mr. Perkins' opposing motion.

I have a funny feeling that Hammer and Holder have a stack of documents ready to be released in due time. I hope the City leaders will be forced into openness and candor, even if they cannot bring themselves to provide it.