Scales missed point of Poulakidas op-ed

After reading Christine Scales’ Sept. 26 letter, it’s clear that she needs a pat on the back. It is commendable that this unemployed doctor’s wife has sent all her children off to college, and now has made the time to focus on her community. (I guess I was wrong when I believed women could both have a family and serve their community).

She has unselfishly stood in the yard of her constituents to look at their drainage problems, has made some African-American and Democrat friends, and has even cut a couple of European vacations short for the good of her community. Is that right?

Kudos to Scales.

That said, maybe Scales should have actually read Kostas Poulakidas’ Sept. 12 Viewpoint. Poulakidas’ piece was about how we should raise expectations for City-County councilors. Being a public servant should not be a hobby for someone with nothing else to do, and City-County councilors should be making important decisions for the good of us all.

Poulakidas is right: City-County councilors should have a vision for the future of this city, and should be able to handle debates. This was not an article outlining his political credentials and how great he is as a human being. If the IBJ were going to offer a “campaign puff piece” to Poulakidas, one would think that he would have mentioned his many Sagamore of the Wabash awards, or that he has already helped make political decisions that have saved taxpayers $8.5 million annually.

We can all be thankful that not every politician uses the newspaper to throw mud and write nonsense. Maybe there are true public servants running for office, not for the notoriety, but to actually work hard and do some good.

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Jennifer Stiles