Council could have avoided much trouble

Say what you will about McCook, but there's one thing you can't deny: the people stand up for themselves and they're not afraid to speak their minds.

Never has that been more apparent than in the past few weeks, when the re-hiring of John Bingham as city manager sparked one of the most fierce displays of public dissent in community history.

Because of the intense outcry of opposition, members of the McCook City Council did what they had to do to preserve community harmony, voting 4-1 Monday night not to set Bingham's salary, thereby clearing the way for his termination.

The action to dismiss him will be taken Monday, April 11, during a special City Council meeting.

Bingham's pending dismissal is not a proud moment for the city, but it is a necessary moment. Citizen frustration with city government has been growing for the past 15 years, starting with the long, difficult search for a safe and sufficient water supply for the community.

As the years passed, the need to comply with complex federal and state regulations put the city council and administration in a tough situation: they had to do what the state and feds said, but they had to do so without unduly upsetting the people of the community.

In the end, that proved impossible. Something had to give and it did: the support of the people. Rather than face huge government fines, the council opted to set a hurry-up course to meet the water and sewer deadlines.

Bingham was a strict enforcer of rules, and the council liked that about him. He helped the council meet the federal deadlines and escape millions of dollars in fines. But what worked so well with big government, didn't work so well with citizens of the community. The people were particularly upset by denial of building permits and the brusque treatment they received in dealings with the city.

Council members made a mistake by rehiring Bingham without announcing in advance that they were negotiating with him. If they had, the public outcry could have taken place before the fact rather than after the fact, saving the council, Bingham and the citizens a great deal of trouble.

But that's history. It's time to move on. It's now time for the council and citizens of the community to chart a new course of leadership for the community.

It's not going to be easy. The McCook community has shown that throughout its history. But there's one thing you can be sure of: we're going to keep trying.