If Councillors Fred Capone and Gerly Adrien run for mayor, as we expect they will, the mayor will hard-pressed to account for his past actions and allegations of sexual harassment and alleged payoffs in return for municipal favors done during his twelve years in office.
In the present political and social environment, integrity, above all, is what ought to matter when it comes to who serves the people of the city in public office.
Popularity, too often, is the chief reason politicians are elected and re-elected over and over again.
In today’s highly polarized political environment, the political careers of some politicians and businessmen, and women can be ended in an instant without them stepping inside a courtroom.
Today, the public judges guilt and innocence by what is reported in the media or by the courts. Perception is everything.
The public and private lives of the president, governors, senators, congressmen, and mayors are scrutinized very closely these days.
It is the same with prominent businessmen and women.
Sexual harassment charges are like poison for politicians and businesspeople alleged to have committed them. If a politician or businessman has paid a woman to keep her mouth shut, to cover and to obscure the sexual harassment a secret from the public, it can often have career-ending implications. This includes past or present indiscretions. Alleged indiscretions are as bad as the real thing being revealed.
This has been happening across the nation for several years.
Politicians and business people are now asked to answer for sexual harassment charges that were made years ago.
Bad behavior past or present attaches itself to prominent peo- ple like inoperable cancer.
Longstanding careers have been obliterated overnight.
In this upcoming mayoral election, integrity will matter, more so than ever before.
The best public relations team can obscure the truth.
Our past follows us in our public and private lives.
Do you want to be mayor?
Prepare to have your past looked into closely and revealed. That goes for everyone running.