Pouting is rarely a public service

Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert and City Clerk Dallas Cook clearly will not be taking a moonlight canoe ride together anytime soon — unless one of them brings along cement overshoes for the other.

Still, they are both public servants and the public expects them to remember that, as well as make sure the service part comes first.

This latest dust-up is over Cook spending $32,000 to get old documents on the city’s website, then getting miffed and seeking injunctions because the mayor blocked the launch. The concern was that there were Social Security and other private materials among the reams of old ordinances and city records.

The webmaster rightfully flagged the potential for identity theft and Eckert decided the city attorney should weigh in before the documents went online. Eckert said there also was an objection about Cook including a statement about how making the documents public had been one of his campaign promises.

There is little rush to get these online when some date to the 19th century. However, making public records not only public but easily accessible should always be a city priority.

On the issue of Cook taking credit for a campaign promise, he needs to quickly back away from that.

Whether it be Cook taking credit on a city website or former mayors plastering their names and “progress as promised” all over a new city park or street, this kind of political boosterism is offensive and arrogant. Those were our tax dollars making that public thing happen, not the paternal benevolence of some politician.

Save it for the campaign fliers, ladies and gents.

It is a positive thing that Eckert and Cook are from different parties and even that they scrap a little bit. Checks and balances are good things that make government run more efficiently, openly and honestly.

Still, they need to put on their big boy pants and deal with one another in a professional manner when the public’s business is before them. Imagine what they could accomplish if they put all this passion into their jobs.

This story was originally published August 4, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Pouting is rarely a public service."