MASON CITY – “Why?” That’s all a Mason City wanted to know.
Long-time Mason City resident David Gilbert is a no-nonsense kind of fella. You can tell, because when he uses his Democratic right to free speech at city council meetings, he doesn’t mince words.
And it’s not easy dishing out a dose of humble pie at the public podium to the 7 statues staring back at you like deer stuck in the headlights (although one or two of them will occasionally laugh in your face with what little arrogance they can still muster).
Mr. Gilbert has been known to administer a shot of air into the veins of this cadaver of an elected body before, and boy, did he deliver an Arctic blast Tuesday night.
After first punishing the local Minnesota (Iowa, too?) TV station and the crumbling punchline Globe Gazette for shoddy news reporting, Mr. Gilbert asked some question many citizens have always wondered about but may never have actually tasked the city council with answering.
“Why? Mr. Gilbert began. “Why did we go out of town to get a police chief?” he asked. “We have good, knowledgable patrolmen here in town.” Sitting merely inches away was Police Chief Jeff Brinkley – who relocated here from Ames. He asked the same question about the hiring of the fire chief.
“Don’t we have faith in our own people? Why?”
Mr. Gilbert also asked why city hall seems to do little about an alleged “junk yard” near the downtown, why the city cannot deal with deteriorating houses, and why so many “pole barns” are being erected in the city.
If you have something of value to say use your real name rather than hide behind a mask. Mr. Gilbert is a Mason City native who cares about his community. I wish more people had his gusto and spoke their minds.
All this “hiring local” talk. Now Penca is heading to Arizona for twice the job he would have had here. Plus we lose his wife, a teacher, and their children. Way to go MCCSD! Good luck to him and his family, I’m a bit jealous.
Dam. I wanna see cage match. Gilbert versus Weaver versus McCourt. This was some good sh*t. Brutal.