I am amazed sometimes by how elected officials can personalize the problems in which they find themselves.
After an investigation concluded Joplin Mayor Jon Tupper unintentionally violated the city's code of ethics in connection with his son's purchase of a prime piece of city property, Tupper made the statement, "I owe one person an apology, and that is my son."
The mayor could not be more wrong. He blew a golden opportunity to apologize to the people who were really harmed by his lack of discretion...the people of Joplin. After the meeting, the mayor refused to talk to the people who serve as the stand-ins for his constituents, the media, giving the impression that it was their fault they made such a big deal out of what he obviously considered to be nothing.
I doubt if the mayor sees anything wrong in what he did, something which he has in common with many elected officials. We do not elect officials to use insider knowledge for the benefit of themselves and their loved ones. As the article in the Tuesday Joplin Globe notes:
The motion to issue a reprimand to Tupper was made by Councilman Jim West after the issuance of a report from an investigator Howard Wright, a former attorney for the city of Springfield, into the mayor's action in connection with the purchase of a home by his son, Josh Tupper, at 310 S. Comingo Ave. in June 2006.
The property is near a home at 303 S. High Ave., which city officials voted to purchase for a Joe Becker Stadium project. The property on Comingo Avenue is also contained within one of five potential areas that the BLR Group, a consulting firm, suggested be acquired for a future renovation and expansion of the stadium. That information has been public since January.
The article goes on to say:
Wright's report states that Jon Tupper on June 4, 2006, met with his son and advised him to purchase the property at Comingo, citing its price and condition. Prior to that day, the Tuppers had also viewed the property, and Jon Tupper had discussed the possible purchase of property at 303 S. High Ave., according to Wright's report.
Joshua Tupper then made an offer on the Comingo Avenue house during business hours on June 5, 2006. The City Council voted that night to pursue the property at 303 S. High Ave. while meeting in closed session. The City Council, including Tupper, then formally voted to acquire the property at its July 3, 2006, meeting.
Joplin Daily's Michelle Pippin did an excellent job of pinning down council members for their confusing actions in regard to a possible censure of Tupper.
The mayor's comments that he would not give up his obligations as a parent to be an elected official were so far off the mark to be ludicrous. He can make his apologies to his son on his own time. When he is serving as mayor of Joplin and as an elected city council member, the people of this city are the ones he should have addressed. As with many politicians who are caught making mistakes, both intentionally and unintentionally, Tupper tried to make it appear as if he were the victim.
All Jon Tupper had to say was, "I made a mistake. I apologize to the people of Joplin. I will not do it again."
Unfortunately for him and for the city, he wasn't man enough to do that.
7 comments:
I know John Tupper. To lump him in the "elected officials" pile is incorrect. He is "man" enough to do a lot of good..his record reflects that. Tupper was "man" enough to volunteer countless hours to disabled children in Joplin's challenger baseball program. He was "man" enough to donate his time to many causes in Joplin well before he ever became a city council member.
The timing of this purchase does seem coincidental, and Joplin residents will have a chance to "fire" the mayor and city council members.
But my guess is that enough of the voters in Joplin know Mr. Tupper and his family to be good people and not the type to use their position to gain anything.
This man may have done many good things in his life but what this man has done with this case is wrong, very wrong and should have been removed from his post at the least! What Marth Stewart did with her insider info with stock investments was NO different than this man (so Called man) attemped to make money of information only he knew to have such potential.I believe he told the media he did nothing wrong in earler interviews than why was he sorry for what he apperantley did not do. No this man is bad for Joplin. But like all real stories it will just go away/
Here's another reason why Joplin's mayor should be an elected position not appointed.
I suppose the Joplin police will forgive me when I'm stopped for a traffic violation and say "but I didn't mean to do it."
He wasnt "man" enough to say he was wrong and sorry to the people. I didnt like that as a Joplin citizen. I thought he looked smug and sounded pompus.
There are a lot of people that do good things for the community but that doesnt make them ethical. I bet everyone thought the Enron guys were good guys until their corruption came to light.
To the people who know Mayor Tupper, You should urge him to drop the ego and swallow his pride. He may volunteer his time to the city, but that doesn't mean he can break the rules. No one attacked him or his son. He should realize that they simply asked legitimate questions. Clearly they were right. If an outside investigator, hired at the taxpayer's expense can find the wrongdoing, then those asking the questions knew what they were talking about. The investigator said it himself when he pointed out that the City's ordinance does not require the ethics breach to be intentional. Clearly Mayor Tupper didn't think he did anything wrong or he would not have pressed for the investigation. If you know the Mayor, you should tell him that it doesn't matter if he wants to move on to state politics, he is in local politics right now. No one is asking him to stop being a father. All we as citizens are asking him, now that he's been told he broke the rules is to apologize, publicly, to the citizens - not just his son. That all being said, shame on the other city council members for not stepping up to the plate and giving him a public reprimand. Bob Harrington, we don't buy it for a minute that you figured the votes wouldn't be there so why bother seconding the motion made by Jim West. Second the motion, and get it on record that you voted to reprimand him. Let the other council members go on record with their votes. We all know Jim West is no saint, but he's never been investigated and found to be in violation of the ethics rules. Maybe the Charter Committee needs to go back to the drawing board and change that Ethics ordinance to include "any violation will result in a public censure." Then, those who police themselves will have no choice but to acknowledge the mistake. Again, the mistakes were minor, but this smacks of the good 'ol boy network that has existed in Joplin City government forever. The only reason Harold McCoy got away with his land grabs was because the media didn't find out. Someone needs to check on how he made some big bucks off the TIF designations by the mall.
Yes, I agree that Bob Harrington tries to play both sides of the issue, without ever taking a stand. He's a snake-oil salesman if ever I saw one! Just ask St. John's why they dumped him.
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