Editorial: Always important to stick to your guns

St. Augustine Record
Editorial: Always important to stick to your guns
From Staff
Publication Date: 11/19/06

Soon-to-be-former-Mayor George Gardner let one rip at the St. Augustine City Commission meeting last week when he went after city gadfly Ed Slavin.

For those of you who don¹t know, Slavin is a regular at City Commission meetings. He is quick to point out what he thinks is wrong with city government, which is plenty.

Slavin is not subtle. If he thinks you¹re a crook, he¹ll tell you to your face.

And, yes, Hizzoner is correct that Slavin can be abrasive, although he¹s always polite when he calls us, even if he is questioning our competency, which means he¹s not always alone in his views.

Hizzoner pointed out that Slavin has asked the City Commission about 200 questions, which the mayor thinks is an abuse of the public comment section of its meetings.

And he went after Slavin, pointing out that he was disbarred in Tennessee in part because of his harassment and intimidation of officers of the court. Slavin questioned judges¹ competency in court and hurled insults at other lawyers.

Well, that¹s true.

It¹s also true that without Slavin the citizens of St Augustine would not have known the city was illegally dumping waste material in a borrow pit off Homes Boulevard.

After the mayor spoke, he got a standing ovation from almost everyone in the room. Only our reporter and Slavin remained seated.

We¹re here to tell you this. Ed Slavin is brilliant. Not just bright, brilliant. The Supreme Court of Tennessee, in finding fault with him, acknowledged his ³intellect and legal skills.

Here¹s some stuff you may not know about Slavin. As the editor of the Appalachian Observer in 1982, he filed a request to get some federal documents declassified. Because of his persistence, he found out and shared with the world that the Department of Energy Oak Ridge (Tenn.) Operations had ³lost¹¹ 2.4 million pounds of mercury in Oak Ridge. Later it turned out they had actually lost 4.2 million pounds of mercury.

His work discovered widespread DOE and contractor misconduct. That became a national story.

He went on to become a public interest attorney, armed with his view of never giving up because individuals can change history.

Yes, Slavin is persistent. Yes, he overplays his hand a lot. Yes, he can be obnoxious. And, yes, we would not want to be on the receiving end of Slavin¹s barbs any more than we already are.

But we¹re happy that there are gadflies like Slavin in our world. They add texture to our public forums and, as in the case of the illegal dumping, get it right sometimes.

So, to our public officials, we suggest you get thicker skins.

To those of you who stood up to applaud the mayor after he lambasted Slavin, shame on you for trying to stifle free speech. All of us should defend people¹s right to express their views, even when they are unpopular.

And to Slavin, you may want to soften your delivery, but don¹t be hushed. Remember that it¹s not important to be popular; it is important to stick to your guns.


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