Kaplan, Tinsley treatment unfair

To the Editor,

We are writing to offer our kudos to the City Council and their associates who selected the new City Manager Heath Kaplan. Our community is fortunate to have found someone with his credentials and willingness to direct all of his energy to improving Poplar Bluff. He has made a great start with his decision to pave streets instead of building a bridge. We are sure, if given the time and support needed, he will promote real change and growth in Poplar Bluff.

I realize Mr. Kaplan has his detractors in the form of previous council members and a few entrenched citizens who resist change, but he appears to have the tenacity and reserve to deal with the conflict. I am particularly impressed that he is always armed with facts, not emotion. His selection of Raynesha Hudnell as grant coordinator clearly demonstrates that he is seeking the most qualified person for the job. That is a totally new way of doing business in Poplar Bluff. I can even hope it heralds the end of the good ol' boy system that has curtailed our progress. As for the former council member's objection to the hiring because it was not offered to someone locally, be assured there is no one with this young lady's credentials here. I hope I can assume that the complainant does not harbor a racial bias with respect to the hiring. Sticking with the community for hires, limits our opportunities to have new views and approaches to growth. Growth entails more than adding huge businesses that threaten our small business owners; it involves setting parameters for how we conduct business and addresses safety concerns that other communities our size have resolved long ago.

Speaking of racial bias, it is disappointing to see the pastor and his group from Ward 5 publicly humiliating Mr. Tinsley. As a pastor, I would have thought he would follow the WWJD system. That would have involved a private meeting with Mr. Tinsley instead of a public lynching. It would also have called for the group to accept the apology and remedial action taken instead of continuing to be disruptive at the Council meetings. I strongly believe that this activity is being encouraged by a few who may hope to gain, personally, from the turmoil. Have you wondered who took the time to read all of Mr. Tinsley's Facebook posts for the last year or more? Particularly disturbing was the Rev. Robinson's warning, "We cannot move forward and have a PEACEFUL resolution unless Councilman Tinsley steps down." That has aura of a threat. As far as race being an issue, it would appear that it does not reside alone in the white community. We need to ditch the race card; the more it is played, the weaker it gets.

I am stunned that the Council members sent Mr. Tinsley to a "racial sensitivity" class. It must have been a knee jerk response to that feared threat of being called "racist." This is not a racial issue; it is an issue of free speech rights. This is America where we have the right, no matter how stupid or offensive, to express our views. In addition, I do not believe Mr. Tinsley took an oath to adopt the political views of these he represents. His only obligation is to represent his constituents at the City level; he does not have to relinquish his right to freedom of expression or political allegiance. With Christians around the world being persecuted and killed by the thousands, members of our free press being beheaded on public TV and thousands of illegals flooding our country while our President plays golf, it seems very petty in the broad view to complain about caricatures, hiring a grant writer, or all of the other nit picking that has prevailed since the City Council election did not go the way a few entrenched power grabbers had hoped. The people of Poplar Bluff have spoken and those who truly want our community to move forward will bury their grievances, real and imagined, AND SUPPORT OUR NEW COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER.

My Husband and I are not city residents, but we are equally impacted because we shop, secure medical care, drive the unpaved streets and generally depend on Poplar Bluff stores and services. I would also like to clarify that I do not know Mr. Tinsley, nor am I an advocate; it is the violation of principles that we all hold dear that is my concern. I remind you that thousands of men and women have shed, and continue to shed, their blood on fields far from home to protect our rights to speak and express our views freely. The slightest effort to curtail those rights denigrates our service men and women and our veterans, both living and dead. Let's not do anything to dishonor their service.

Shirley Stoll, Ph.D.

Poplar Bluff, Mo.