The LuLac Edition #2707, August 3rd, 2014

YOU TICKETING ME???????

Let me start out here by telling you this. When I first starting writing LuLac eight years ago, my late mother, not understanding fully what I was undertaking just said, “Be nice”. (My mom was captivated by my flip phone, what might have she made of my Iphone??) Through the years I tried to adhere to my mother’s advice. I’ve even felt guilt when I took certain people to task thinking I might have been unfair. I usually think about these things before Mass. On Saturday night in the pew I thought that perhaps I might have been too hard on the Wilkes Barre Area School board for their recent decision regarding Service Electric and Rob Neyhard. A friend of mine even suggested that I hold on to things too long such as the defeat of Al Gore in 2000, the closing of my church in 2008 and its ultimate demolition in 2011 and the loss of my job at BCNEPA in 2009. It was suggested that my pique at the Board was not necessarily about what they did to Rob but that the 5th vote came from Ned Evans who defeated Kathy Grinaway who I supported. 

I was told that maybe this might have influenced me a bit. And at church and over the weekend I pondered that thought. Maybe, I was as my mom said, not being nice.
But then came this Face book posting from Wilkes Barre Area School Board member Ned Evans. Read it. 

A few things. I have had some consumer issues at businesses where I thought I was right. Even though it was difficult, I always tried to be respectful and put myself in the shoes of the person on the other end. I have also encountered some people who were uncooperative or for lack of a better word just lazy and stupid. Once I even took to Face book like Mr. Evans for some poor service I got at Sonic when it first opened. But I felt that in all of these instances I was trying to fight for my right as a consumer. But if it went against my favor, that was it. 
In his post Ned Evans complains that he was ticketed in Wilkes Barre,  not for illegal parking but for a lapsed registration on his vehicle. As a motorist if you let your registration expire, you do get a ticket. It is the obligation of the Police Department to enforce the law. I’ve been on the wrong end tickets in my life. I even tried to explain to a Wilkes Barre City police officer in 1975 coming home from a Prom at King’s after running a light this beauty. I told the policeman,  “But officer, I thought after the flood red lights were optional between Midnight and 5AM in the city”. He smiled at me and said, “Good joke but here’s your ticket”. I paid it, I didn't go looking for Walter Lisman!
To be sure, Evans’ post does not rank up there with LuLac land School Directors getting busted for drunk driving or other WBASB members who served time. But here’s what bothers me about this post on Face book.
1. Evans’ reaction on Face book was insulting to law enforcement officers of any stripe. His “wanna be cop” remark was a tad immature. That person who issued the ticket had the sanction of the authorities in Wilkes Barre.
2. Evans’ again reinforced the stereotype of pubic officials who play the “Don’t you know who I am card??” People are sick of that type of thing.
3. Whomever Evans was questioning in City Hall obviously didn’t know the answers. True that could be frustrating. But see, if I know my registration is out of date, and I don’t have a sticker on my car reflecting that, I know getting a ticket is not an unjust action. Why question someone for the answer you already know?
4. Evans laments the fact that he just paid $52.00 for produce from the Farmer’s Market. Does that mean he is entitled to getting away with not having an up to date registration? Does a dollar amount of broccoli and sweet corn give you a pass? Personally I would be ashamed to complain about the $52.00 I bought in fresh produce when as a school director in the Wilkes Barre Area School District there are kids from poor families that never get fresh produce at home. I'm sure Mr. Evans would be surprised to learn that poor kids get celery with peanut butter as a nutrition boost in some area programs as well as other modest items. And not at home. There are many kids getting school lunches in the summer in this city that have families that can’t afford that sum. Then there are taxpayers like us (me and Mrs. LuLac) who despite our good employment fortunes have to watch what we spend because we are dealing with the tax increases levied on property owners by this board. Do you think we can get away with a “grace period” like Mr. Evans asks for if we decided not to pay our taxes? If I were a retired school employee and just spent 52 bucks on fruit, I’d shut up and pay the damn ticket. Not to get it out of the way but BECAUSE HE BROKE THE RULES! Tone deaf on all accounts.
5. Finally the Facebook post. I understand the initial reaction to get angry and frustrated. I do. But Mr. Evans, in case he has not yet grasped this fact is a Public Official. What he does and says in public even on Facebook is open to public comment and dare I say ridicule. Mr. Evans is not just some educated redneck with a truck, he is a duly elected member of a School Board.
When I saw this on Facebook, I was stunned and thought, “What is he doing?” Then I remembered a line from my favorite political movie of all time called “The Best Man”. 

In one scene, the late Dallas native Lee Tracy, playing a character Art Hockstader (right) says to Cliff Robertson’s character Joe Cantwell, (left) “It’s not that I object to you being a bastard, don’t got me wrong there, it’s just I object to you being such a stupid bastard!”. I’m sure, well perhaps not, but maybe Evans heard this when he was employed at the School, “Be careful what you put on the internet”. You don’t want to look……uh stupid. Or cheap. Or petty. Or insensitive to the the kids and families who dream of spending 52 pucks on produce. Or someone who wants special privileges because you are a member of the mighty Wilkes Barre Area School Board!