Bill Keffler's Scarlet Letter

"She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness."
-- Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Earlier, I republished and linked to an open letter by the Richardson City Manager, Bill Keffler, responding to criticisms of the city made by the Richardson Citizens Alliance (RCA) PAC. But I never commented on the propriety of the city manager writing the letter.

After the jump, my (belated) thoughts.

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On the one hand, I don't believe there is a legal problem with what the city manager did. He neither endorsed any candidates nor disparaged any. It's true that the criticisms that he was responding to were made in a political ad, but the ad was structured as an issues ad. The issues were supposed facts about the city itself, which is what the city manager responded to. The ad included some criticisms of actions that are the responsibility of the city manager and city staff. I am not a lawyer, but I don't think the law requires the city manager to stand back and remain silent when his integrity and the integrity of his staff are maligned in public.

Nevertheless, I was surprised when I saw the letter. Very surprised. It seemed to me that the city manager was injecting himself into politics. As his is a professional position, not a political position, I did not expect him to comment on election campaign issues. For me, his letter was the surprise of the entire election campaign.

On balance, I think the city manager's letter was a mistake. Whatever boost it might have given to the morale of the city staff to know that the city manager has their back, the boost came at a high price. The letter risks undermining the reputation of the city manager position as being separate from politics. The public has a right to insist on there being a dividing line between politics and civil service. That dividing line is blurred today because of the city manager's letter.

The letter also jeopardizes the future working relationship of the city manager with the new city council, if candidates backed by the RCA get elected. That will work to no one's advantage, not the city manager, not the city staff, not the city council, and, most importantly, not the residents of Richardson.