To the editor:
I am puzzled by Fayetteville Mayor Mark Olson. He strives very hard to do a good job and many times his work falls into the category of “thankless tasks,” but what he chooses to speak publicly about and what he refuses to speak publicly about makes no sense.
In last week’s paper, Mayor Olson chose to respond to a letter to the editor from L. Orcutt in which L. Orcutt criticized the culture in Fayetteville as being less “pro-small business” than it should be. The mayor defended the board members as well as the business climate in Fayetteville. All well and good. But, when asked to comment on the Consensus Report (in which the Village of Fayetteville is seen as outdated and wasteful to taxpayers), the mayor remains silent.
Mark Olson was a member of the Consensus Committee. That committee concluded that municipalities (such as the one he serves as mayor of) should be targeted for elimination, and yet Mayor Olson refuses to make public comments on the Consensus Report. This is not good leadership. Mayor Olson has a duty and an obligation to let the residents of the Village of Fayetteville know what he thinks about that final report. He claims to be willing to speak to individuals about his opinions, but he refuses to make those opinions public. This approach fosters the spread of miscommunication and serves nobody’s best interests.
Mr. Mayor: You criticize people like L. Orcutt for not getting all the facts right when L. Orcutt expresses an opinion. Yet when it comes to the Consensus Report, your continued public silence only encourages people to express what you might later call “uninformed” opinions. You owe it to the residents to make public commentary about the Consensus Report. Please step up to the plate and do your duty.
I would encourage all residents of the Village of Fayetteville who also think that the mayor owes us a public position on the Consensus Report to please ask him to deliver.
David B. Vickers
Fayetteville
