To the Editor:
Your front-page story reporting on the half-cent sales tax designated for Gasconade County law enforcement quotes Owensville City Administrator Randy Blaske as saying, “The city doesn’t need it. The city needs extra money like they need a hole in the head.”
This quote raises two question in my mind:
Is it accurate? And why didn’t the first sentence quoted include some words in parentheses to clarify for readers that the it being referred to was the city’s fractional portion of the one-fourth portion of revenue that isn’t earmarked for the Sheriff’s Department?
I speak of the city’s whopping “drop in the bucket.”
I have known Randy Blaske for 23-plus years and worked with him daily for eight or nine. I cannot fathom him ever speaking so errantly, especially not during his official capacity as City Administrator. To do so would be foolish, not to mention defy the confines of logic. Believe me when I say Randy is one of those rare individuals who uses his head for more than a hat rack. Much more.
Please have your reporter review his notes and/or recording from the meeting to check the accuracy of what he wrote. Perhaps it’s a simple misquote that needs corrected or perhaps it’s a quote taken out of context so it can slant what was said so it is perceived by the reader a certain way.
Either way, the gist of the article needs clarified.
If I’m wrong — and Randy did actually vocalize his belief that the seams on city coffers are bursting so badly that monetary gifts from residents, estates, businesses, and government agencies are not welcome — I will publicly apologize for voicing my belief that there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Or is read.
Patrick J. Leslie, Owensville
