It is truly remarkable how differently different people perceive the same action.
A commentator recently criticized the Brainerd City Council for its wrongful actions, saying it acted out of fear when it passed an ordinance banning camping in public places.
Another, more rational approach would be to congratulate the City Council for caring about the safety of all the city’s residents, which the ordinance does. The ordinance allows the police to be more responsible and compassionate in solving the problem.
Councilman Czeczok called the ordinance “the monster” because he sensed that opponents were afraid of it. But why then should the author attribute fear and ignorance to the five council members who understood and supported it?
Numerous people attended the first reading of the ordinance. Councilwoman Kara Terry looked forward to seeing those same people at the public hearing at the next meeting, where over a dozen spoke against the ordinance.
She referred to these citizens as her people when she spoke out against the ordinance.
This newspaper reported extensively on the issue raised by Mayor Badeaux when he suggested that Councilwoman Terry may have gone too far when she used a Crow Wing County email resource and proposed a different ordinance to the city’s department head.
Councilwoman Terry is also the senior colleague of Crow Wing County Community Services and, as a city council member, vehemently opposes supporting the police through this ordinance.
Given this, one wonders whether her position as Director of Community Services at the CWC gives the impression of being a taxpayer-funded activist.
Thank you to Councilmembers Czeczok, O’Day and Johnson for actually speaking out in favor of the ordinance and doing the right thing.
Ben Murdock
Brainerd
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