11/08/2006

The Honorable Steven Fagenstrom

The voters spoke. Steven Fagenstrom won the election. He now must live up not only to the canons, but also to the public scrutiny. I expect that the supporters of Sam Harris will be hard on him. But that should not be his concern. The public who voted for him, especially readers of Electric City Weblog, will be watching more closely, and be more demanding.

Many of us saw that the Justice Court had problems. It appeared to be becoming less and less of a people's court, where regular folks had a fair shake. But it took a long time to act, too long to speak out. Sam Harris thought he was doing the public good, and even though many disagreed, he was allowed to follow his path for years. I believe that he took the silence as tacit consent for his actions, which encouraged him to get further out of synch with what we expected.

We helped create the situation by not paying attention, not speaking out. That will create a backlash, a swing to the other extreme. Good luck, Judge Fagenstrom. Judge Harris is out from under the microscope, but you are not. Your scrutiny is just beginning.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Election is over I am now free to resume my smart ass ways. You all want a "People's Court"? Well I am more "People" than anyone I know. I have been known to quote Monte Python for prolonged periods of time. I can now admit that I played Dungeons and Dragons with my friends in highschool (even got my dad and uncle involved) I have a passion for big block engines of any kind, and I prefer vehicles with dents and sever rust so I don't have to baby them. I just hope that anyone watching me closely has a good sense of humor cause I really am pretty funny.

Anonymous said...

After reading the comment above, my wife suggested that it was not a bit funny and that as a public official I am no longer allowed to have a sense of humor (particularly an off beat one). Rats, I thought I had a pretty good shot at Letterman.

free thought said...

Steve,
I appreciate that you have a sense of humor. You will need it. Even so, maybe you should prove yourself in the job, build up some good will, and then give us the personal insight.

Who knows, maybe as a fellow rancher, Letterman will give you a shot.

david said...

GeeGuy, can you confirm/deny that it really is Steve Fagenstrom above...?

GeeGuy said...

No.