Accusations held in the dark from city council

In last week’s Red Oak Express, a story ran about an ongoing lawsuit filed by a former city employee, alleging among other things, civil rights violations and sexual harassment on the part of the current city administrator, Brad Wright.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the sensationalism of the allegations and the lawsuit itself, it is very important to keep them in proper context. As of now, they are just accusations. And anyone can file a lawsuit. All it takes is the filing fee and some accusations and viola, you have the makings of a front page story.

Unlike a criminal case, there is no third party, such as a prosecutor, signing off on the allegations. They are just thrown out there, and if the case ever makes it to a trial, it’s the responsibility of the accuser to prove their case at that time.

So it’s important to keep that in mind before rushing to judgment based on the shrivel of information presented, despite the natural tendency to do just that.

With that said though, I do find the city administrator and mayor Ted Schoonover’s decision to keep the city council in the dark about the lawsuit somewhat peculiar.

When I called a couple council members to ask about the lawsuit, I was surprised to be the one providing them insight, instead of the other way around. I would have thought since the city is listed with Wright as co-defendants on the case, those elected to actually oversee city operations would need to be kept up to speed.

However, maybe I’m assuming too much there. At least the mayor and city administrator think so as they explained the council would be informed after their attorney finished his investigation, which by coincidence, is one week after the lawsuit was reported.

I don’t know what’s going to come of this lawsuit. I have far too little information about the specific case or even the people involved to make even a haphazard guess. If its like most civil suits of this nature though, it will never see a courtroom, and will either just be dropped, dismissed, or settled out of court with no details ever to become public.

Regardless of the outcome of this case though, I am willing to bet the next time a lawsuit is filed against the city, I won’t be the one telling the council about it nearly six months after its filed.

At least, I hope I’m not. Our elected officials who we choose to oversee the operation of this town need to know, well, when the town is being sued. That’s important information. And keeping them out of the loop is a disservice not only to the council, but to the residents who elected them.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express. He can be emailed at publisher@redoakexpress.com.