The critics have come out of the woodwork in recent days to blast the City of Monroe's unusual offer to extend up to a 30 percent mortgage backing to its relatively new city administrator, Phil Rath.
How unusual was that offer? Unusual enough for Madison television news to cover the story.
But after withering fire from Internet posters, and vocal critics around town, Rath Tuesday said he would find another way to buy a house in Monroe - without the city's help.
Good for him.
Whether you like what Rath's doing in his job or not, he shouldn't have been put in the position to turn down the loan in the first place, which is what he ultimately did. And the mayor and council who approved it should have seen this kind of trouble coming before they proposed backing a loan.
The city has no business offering to back personal loans to its employees - regardless of the reason for such a move, which, in this case was to help a key manager relocate himself, his wife, and six children to the city he serves.
That city also requires him to live in its boundaries within 6 months of taking the job.
We could see how the Common Council might have been just trying to help.
But with a city to run, in tough economic times, the last thing Rath needs is personal vindictive, which is what he's been getting, and the perception that he's also getting a sweetheart deal from the "good old boy network" we keep hearing about, whomever that is.
What's more, these are the kind of personality-driven, side-show issues that distract from what really needs to be done in Monroe - tough decisions about budgeting and attracting new businesses and jobs to the city.
Finally, we'd like to ask, who among us can cast the first stone?
Foreclosures have soared 33 percent in Green County in 2010, and they have almost doubled here since 2007. Same trend, or worse, persists nationwide. Credit is tighter than it's been in decades.
For some to ignore that trend and assume that any hiccups in one's financial history - and those appear to be relatively slight in Rath's case - are some deeply ingrained character flaw, is not only mean-spirited, but ignorant of the nation's plight throughout the Great Recession.
Let Rath find his own mortgage.
And then let him do his job.
How unusual was that offer? Unusual enough for Madison television news to cover the story.
But after withering fire from Internet posters, and vocal critics around town, Rath Tuesday said he would find another way to buy a house in Monroe - without the city's help.
Good for him.
Whether you like what Rath's doing in his job or not, he shouldn't have been put in the position to turn down the loan in the first place, which is what he ultimately did. And the mayor and council who approved it should have seen this kind of trouble coming before they proposed backing a loan.
The city has no business offering to back personal loans to its employees - regardless of the reason for such a move, which, in this case was to help a key manager relocate himself, his wife, and six children to the city he serves.
That city also requires him to live in its boundaries within 6 months of taking the job.
We could see how the Common Council might have been just trying to help.
But with a city to run, in tough economic times, the last thing Rath needs is personal vindictive, which is what he's been getting, and the perception that he's also getting a sweetheart deal from the "good old boy network" we keep hearing about, whomever that is.
What's more, these are the kind of personality-driven, side-show issues that distract from what really needs to be done in Monroe - tough decisions about budgeting and attracting new businesses and jobs to the city.
Finally, we'd like to ask, who among us can cast the first stone?
Foreclosures have soared 33 percent in Green County in 2010, and they have almost doubled here since 2007. Same trend, or worse, persists nationwide. Credit is tighter than it's been in decades.
For some to ignore that trend and assume that any hiccups in one's financial history - and those appear to be relatively slight in Rath's case - are some deeply ingrained character flaw, is not only mean-spirited, but ignorant of the nation's plight throughout the Great Recession.
Let Rath find his own mortgage.
And then let him do his job.
