EDITORIAL: COMMISSIONERS SHOULD WITHDRAW THE DECISION TO FIRE DIRECTOR OF BURETTE PARK
Commissioner Shoulders Should Had Recused Himself From Vote Because of Conflict Of Interest
This week we posted many comments concerning the misguided decision to fire the hardworking and qualified Director of Burdette Park.
County Commissioner Ben Shoulders (D) appeared to have cut a backroom deal in order to repay his campaign manager for a job well done. Â We consider this to be an act of political patronage at its best. During the campaign, Mr. Shoulders pledged that if elected he would be extremely objective and transparent. The voters signed off on his campaign pledge and elected him to the District 1 County Commissioner seat. We’re disappointed to report that it didn’t take to long for Mr. Shoulders to break his campaign pledge to the people of this community to be open and transparent.
District 3 County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave’s participation in the firing of the qualified and hard working 28 year old Burdette Parks Director took many by surprise. We consider her decision to support Mr. Shoulders desire to fire Burdette Park Director Jacob Murphy was without cause. Â Also many people feel that the hiring of Ben Shoulders campaign manager to replace Mr. Murphy was an unacceptable act of “political patronage.” Â For what we are hearing this may have caused her some serious political problems with the general public in the future.
What’s disappointing is that the decision to fire Mr. Murphy was done in private.  Commissioner’s Shoulders and Musgrave never took the time to discuss this matter with all the members of the Burdette Park Advisory Board in order to get their input concerning Mr. Murphy’s overall job performance. They never directly discussed their desire to terminate Mr. Murphy employment with all members of the Vanderburgh County Council.  They didn’t alert the media or the public about the firing of Jacob Murphy and the hiring of Pat Tuley and his wife until after the fact.  Most importantly they didn’t  put this issue on the official County Commission agenda for public discussion.
Pat and Z Tuley have served in different elected and appointed position for many years. Both have serve well in the public sector during the last 25 years. Both have received handsome compersations for the work they did for the taxpayers of Vanderburgh County. However, it looks like it may be time for them to find employment elsewhere other than Burdette Park. Â With their political and business connections we expect that they will have little trouble doing so.
We hope that Commissioners Ben Shoulders and Cheryl Musgrave will not only publicly apology to the taxpayers of Vanderburgh County for their bad misjudgment in this matter but they should also rescind the firing of 28 years old Jacob Murphy as the Burdette Parks Director because it’s the right thing to do.
Its time to put this situation behind us and focus on the important issues that will help our county to become even more progressive in the future!
FOOTNOTE: Todays “Readers Poll” Â question is: Should County Commissioners Shoulders and Musgrave withdraw their decision to fire the Director of Burdette Park?
