Letter to the Editor: Troy Mayor Needs to Follow the Rules

Dear Mayor Daniels:

I am stunned that you, as the duly-elected mayor of Troy, have so little respect for the rules that apply to council meetings or to elected officials.  Many of which, I have come to realize, you don’t know.

You, as an elected official, do not have the right to apply rules to others and avoid them yourself.  You do not have the right to disregard laws you don’t agree with.

You do not have the right to shut the door on an open meeting because it is not going your way. You do not have the right to behave like a petulant 10-year-old when you don’t get your way.

You do not have the right to insult and degrade the people you represent.

You do not have the right to cite the “telephone game” of rumor in this community as factual.  You do not have the right to mislead your constituents.

You cannot choose to ignore your constituents’ right to privacy. You cannot demand they publicly reveal where they live unless you reveal to each of them where you live.

You were elected to represent Troy. State business is not on your agenda.  Federal business is not on your agenda. You do not have a right to pursue state or federal goals as an elected official of Troy – only as a private citizen.

You do not have the right to publicly criticize the employees of this city, who have given up compensation so that the city can continue to provide services to your constituents. Experienced managers know better.

You do not have any personal claim to public records. Mail, tapes, and any other communications you have relative to your position as mayor belong to the citizens of Troy, and you have NO expectation of privacy. Did you miss the whole Kilpatrick trial?

You do not have the right to publicly spew about things that are not within your area of expertise without educating yourself about them – contracts, engineering, management and accounting, to name just a few.

Finally, I must conclude that I have no confidence that you have the skills, knowledge or ability to perform the duties you were elected to perform. The decent thing for you to do would be to resign as soon as possible.  I would advocate for a 6 to 0 vote to accept that resignation.

Cathy Fucinari
Troy, MI

Troy Patch accepts letters to the editor. Please include your hometown when writing. Letters may be edited for clarity and style. Send letters to editor Jen Anesi at jen.anesi@patch.com.