Council needs retreat on ethics

Let me begin by saying I think the city of Cape Girardeau has been progressive and generally well managed. But problems have arisen.

Last month the city used deception to gain approval of an increase in sales tax. The city implied that sales tax revenue was decreasing, when actually it was increasing. City leaders, past and present, promoted the deception. This month the City is having problems in part because there is no written guidelines for giving taxpayer money to certain organizations. (Do they really give money like that?) And there seems to be poor communications among City Council members. Here's my suggestions:

The city leaders, and maybe some past leaders, should have a retreat where two topics dominate the agenda: Ethics in Government and Communications in Government.

The ethics part should focus on the need to be absolutely honest with the voters; otherwise, trust is destroyed and leadership becomes impossible. (Will we believe them on future tax proposals?) Deceiving for short-term goals almost always hurts in the long run.

The communications part should focus on opening and maintaining strong lines of communication among the leaders. Councilmen should not feel it's a waste of time to talk to each other. Councilman should not be told it's their responsibility to have information that's not made available. Good communications is the key to smooth-running organizations.

The retreat could be held locally, using local resources. There is no need to go to Las Vegas.

Gary L. Gaines, Cape Girardeau