From the Herald-Mail:
A Hagerstown resident told the City Council on Tuesday that she intends to file an ethics complaint against Councilwoman Kelly S. Cromer over a traffic stop in which Cromer was given a warning for allegedly speeding last month near City Park.
During a council meeting, Cathy Ridenour said a “can of worms” had been opened after Cromer was given a warning rather that a ticket on May 26 for allegedly driving 43 mph in a 25-mph zone — an infraction that carries a $90 fine.
“I, as a tax-paying citizen of Hagerstown, am asking that the (Washington County Ethics Commission) investigate in full the incident that occurred in regards to Councilwoman Cromer being stopped …,” Ridenour said. “My belief … is that no one is above the law and using one’s position of authority is inexcusable, unprofessional and wrong.”
Now this is just getting silly. Unless Cathy Ridenour knows something that the rest of us don’t, she has no basis to accuse Cromer of anything. She certainly has no basis of going to the Washington County Ethics Commission.
Even if Cromer somehow used her position on the City Council to get out of a ticket — and there currently is no evidence showing that she did — it’s the police officer that made the decision to NOT give her a ticket.
I think I’m going to do my best John Kerry impersonation now and flip-flop on this. At first I was ready to criticize Cromer for trying to get out of ticket, but now I’m not so sure if she has anything to be criticized about. She claims she didn’t say “Don’t you know who I am“. She claims that since the officer obviously knew who she was, she asked him if she needed to look through her luggage for her license.
The more I think about it, the more I believe she didn’t ask the officer if he knew who she was. She obviously knew the shit-storm that was created when her fellow City Council member Alesia Parson-McBean said that when she was stopped by the police.
Of the two versions of the story — Cromer’s and the officer’s — it’s Cromer’s that makes the most sense.
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Oh, I forgot to mention, I was really laughing when I heard about an ethics investigation. We all need to be careful of glass houses, lets look at that.
But I was against the ehtics investigation they had a couple of years ago for a minority councilperson. Sadly, many who are against this ethics review were ready to grill the other council memebr not too long ago. In both situations, there is just the focus on council when law enforcement, the newspaper, and some citizens could also use a review. Both situations negated the other parties involved. So, while I am not giving the current administration a pass, I also think a lot of people could use a looking at or some soul searching.
That is true in any work place, government, or organization. Nothing new here, that is sad but true.