Post: 853
"Letters to the Editor" addressing the lapse in communications and protocol associated with the recent visit to Hermann by Governor Jay Nixon have been appearing in other local news publications. This morning I opened my home-delivered October 6th edition of 'The Hermann Advertiser-Courier' and found Mayor Larry Miskel's response to the letter which Gasconade County Sheriff Randy Esphorst had submitted for wide publication the previous week. By 2 p.m. this afternoon my inbox was flooded with emails from our readers wanting to comment on this situation. I have chosen to publish just one of the emails I received. I picked Richard Smoker's email. Richard is one of our FREE subscribers and has frequently commented on this site.
Richard had this to say .....
Dear Mr. Oldsun;
I want to comment on the highly controversial situation involving Governor Jay Nixon's recent visit to Hermann. This impromptu visit which involved poor communications and lapse of protocol has received more attention (and ink) than the actual purpose for the Governor's visit itself!
I believe that Mayor Larry Miskel was entirely justified in making his strongly-held opinion known to Presiding Commissioner Ron Jost during the commission meeting which immediately followed the Governor's visit to Hermann one day in September. Mayor Miskel expressed his concerns openly, honestly, directly, professionally and face-to-face with the County Commission.
Why Sheriff Randy Esphorst felt a need to grandstand with "Letters to the Editor" published by both CNL and The Hermann Advertiser-Courier is still a great puzzlement to me! But he did! I wonder if Sheriff Esphorst approached Mayor Miskel openly, honestly, directly, professionally and face-to-face? If anyone knows the answer to my question, I would certainly like to know. I think the Sheriff should have handled any concerns he may have had with Mayor Miskel (or anyone else) in just that direct, professional and man-to-man way ..... but he apparently and presumably didn't. I think he chose to use the press to get his message out more broadly than it really needed to be disseminated. If I am wrong on this and have misread the situation, I hope someone will correct me. I really would like to learn that I am wrong and that our County Sheriff is, in fact, a professional and not a grandstanding politician!
Mayor Miskel, whether he wanted to or not, was almost forced to respond to some of the statements in the Sheriff's "Letter to the Editor". I'm glad that he did! I'm glad that he wasn't cowered by an elected public official of the county just because that elected county official happens to wear a badge! I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with everything Mayor Miskel said in his letter published today, and I am now wondering if our current County Sheriff has the requisite wisdom and good judgement to occupy the office he currently occupies.
Sincerely,
Richard Smoker
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