Last December, our City Councilman Scott Malsin showed the community his true colors when he turned his back on his sworn civic duty in order to legally mandate the local community to pay for all the healthcare for himself and his family for the rest his life.
Now I have not always agreed with Mr. Malsin’s decisions on the Council, but I believed he had the community’s welfare at heart when voting. I never found it necessary to personally criticize him for his voting record, that is until now. His selfish decision on his healthcare publicly exposed a quite different side of himself for all to see.
Simple Ethics
What Mr. Malsin does not seem to understand is, as Michael Josephson has aptly put it, “Ethical behavior doesn't require someone to ignore his own self-interests or demand he live a life of self-sacrifice. But it does require the person to know the difference between what he wants and what he should do.” I guess Mr. Malsin could have used a refresher course on the subject.
Give Me More, More, More
A Council member’s annual compensation runs about $20,000 a year. I can only guess, but did Mr. Malsin truly believe he was entitled to more than just the annual compensation he had already received? Was that annual compensation just not enough for him for his six-plus years serving on the Council? Did he feel he deserved this lifetime compensation? Did he feel he was somehow justified in making the taxpayers pay for his and his family’s healthcare for the rest of his life?
Feeling Impugned
Now Mr. Malsin has the chutzpah to think he can run again, as if nothing has happened and that all will be well again. That might have been the case had he served out his second term, been termed-out of office and then decided to run again after a two-year hiatus.
Far From It
I guess he thinks he shouldn’t or doesn’t need to be held accountable for his actions. Does he really think that local voters will forget how he decided to “spike his own retirement package” with our tax money, and that he renounced his sworn oath so he could funnel more city funds, our tax dollars, towards his and his family’s healthcare plan?
Stop and Think
His actions should make a citizen stop and wonder if this lifetime healthcare perk was one of the main reasons why he and other past elected Council members decided to run for City Council in the first place, and not just out of a sense of community duty.
Flawed Judgment
Scott Malsin is not a terrible or evil person. He made an ethically flawed decision that we, the taxpayers, will be paying for for the rest of his life. And for that, I just don’t think he deserves to sit on our City Council anymore.
Short-Term Memory Lapse
It would seem that Mr. Malsin’s campaign is totally predicated on the public having a collective loss of memory by Election Day. He hopes that the local voters will forget what he did to them and won’t hold him accountable for his decision.
Thanks but No Thanks
Mr. Malsin, after jumping ship, wants to mount a white stallion and ride back into “public service,” to help save his beloved, beleaguered city. But note: He will ride back into town to help save the day only after he has made damned sure the community will have to pick up the tab for his and his family’s healthcare for the rest of his life.
(To be continued)
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
