When were job descriptions changed to the point that public servants, whether elected, appointed or hired, have free rein to deliberately lie to the public in the course of their duties? We’re not talking slip-of-the-tongue here, or misspeaking in the course of a news interview; we’re talking deliberate, preplanned lying, usually to make some boss look good or less bad.
I worked for the state for nearly 10 years, and if one of my subordinates had lied the way Corey Allen Young did, he — or I — would have been gone as quickly as I could arrange it. His case is cut and dried, irrefutable facts open to the public.
Amy Demboski was as bad. The orders she gave weren’t completely carried out, but her lying about giving them was just as egregious. And our mayor, if he didn’t encourage such lying, happily let it happen unchallenged.And it’s not just administration officials who have breached the public trust during the past few years — civil servants in all positions have learned to duck and weave like a boxer dodging punches. How can their own supervosors trust them? In reality, how can their supervisors even be aware of what’s really happening?
I would propose a simple remedy. An overriding rule, applicable to every position which is financed by public funds, should state that any job-connected falsification which is proven beyond doubt to be knowing and deliberate should result in immediate dismissal from office or job, and be a bar to any future such employment.
Such a requirement would probably shut down those officials who can’t seem to open their mouths without lying, but I’d rather be ignorant than deceived.
If a police officer is caught in such a lie, he is gone. I have seen it happen. Should we expect less from our public officials?
— Don Neal
Anchorage
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