Lynch mob: Expected more out of McCook

Dear Editor,

In all my years in McCook, I had never seen a public lynching -- until Monday night. I was one of approximately 200 citizens attending our city council meeting Monday, and feel certain that I was among those who felt the council had made the right decision in re-hiring John Bingham as our city manager. Or so I thought.

What unraveled, metaphorically speaking, was a lynch mob against good judgment and common sense. A lynch mob most likely perpetrated by only a few residents with their own agenda -- an agenda that could impact every citizen of McCook.

So, why do I call this a lynching? The City Council originally voted three to one to rehire Mr. Bingham as city manager (the mayor was unable to attend the meeting). It was a sound decision based on a solid track record and some debate. We thought the decision was final. Then the lynching started.

One by one, the naysayers -- agenda on their collective sleeve -- complained incessantly about the salary ratification and all the purported wrongs committed by Mr. Bingham, then the council waffled under the unusual pressure, voting 4 to 1 against the salary ratification (the mayor returned for this vote).

I must admit that the 15 or so people who voiced their opinions, and the egregious applause that followed, must still be embarrassing and stressful to the councilmen who turned around and changed their votes.

My hat is off to the lone council member, Phil Lyons, who had the courage to stand up to the mob's pressure and voted as he had before, to re-hire Mr. Bingham as city manager.

So what is the issue? The failure to ratify the city manager salary now means that the council's next necessary move will be to eliminate Mr. Bingham from the city staff. They can do that, but they also are required to pay four months severance to Mr. Bingham as part of the termination.

If you attended the meeting or read Tuesday's Gazette, you would know that Bill Bauer of the McCook gun club offered to pay the severance pay out of his own pocket to get rid of Mr. Bingham. Why? Because they have a bigger plan up their sleeve. This is bigger than just a salary issue.

This whole situation reminds me of an "Old West" movie. When the bad man or men in town wanted to get rid of someone, they would go to the local saloon, buy a few rounds of drinks, excite the unsuspecting, and whip them into a frenzy to go out and do their dirty work. Once the unsuspecting duped were coerced into action, all the organizers had to do was sit back and watch their mob take over. In this case I noticed the organizers actually stood up and talked in a mild manner.

During Monday's meeting, after each of those speaking against ratifying the city manager's salary (in essence, voting against rehiring the manager) there were cheers and applause. Occasionally some of those sitting well back in the mob would shout out inappropriate remarks and heckle the council. A far, far cry from the type of behavior and thinking any voter would like to see when decisions about our city's future are being made.

Eventually, when all those wanting to participate had voiced their criticisms of Mr. Bingham, the question was called and only one councilperson was courageous and principled enough to stand by his beliefs and not change his vote.

So what's next?

While the community is without a full time city manager, I believe the mob organizers will up the ante and push for a whole new form of government in McCook -- an elected mayor and city administrator form of government (Mayor-Council structure). This would be a mistake for our community. It could very well institute the "good old boy" form of government -- just like they had back in the towns of the Old West.

Dick Trail, a past/deposed county board member and city councilman, has written several times in the Gazette that we need to change our city's form of government. I remember him suggesting this unnecessary change when we served on the council at the same time. Could it be that those who promoted the lynching Monday night are trying to help Mr. Trail become the next elected mayor of McCook? Are we facing a possible step back to the days when there were lynch mobs and saloons outnumbered the churches in town?

As a citizen of McCook and a former councilman, I was left wanting more from the community of McCook. If, among all the people who attended that meeting on Monday, there were any other supporters for the council's decision to rehire Mr. Bingham, they did not come forth and speak out. Instead they let the mob rule. Fear of ridicule and loss of business can be a big motivator to avoid taking the right action. Likewise, there is a sense of safety in a mob, and individuals who would normally not speak out do so, and not necessarily with any degree of accuracy -- they just repeat what the mob is saying.

Of those speaking out against our city manager, I will wager that no more than two or three of them have ever run for City Council to really affect a change or make a difference. All they are willing to do is sit back in the security of the group and shout complaints without offering any solutions. If they had any idea what it takes to manage a community with the size and potential of McCook, they might change their approach. This is best illustrated by the upcoming election -- where only five people are running for the three open positions on the council. And three of those running are incumbents.

I urge everyone to closely observe what unravels in our city council over the next few months. Will the mob organizers get their way? Will there be a new item on this fall's general election asking the voters of McCook to change our form of city government? Are we going back to an "old boy" form of city government?

Monday's vote is still five days away and I urge at least two more of the councilmen to stick by their original guns (votes) and help keep our current city manager.

Steve Batty

McCook